Individual interventions that are brief, provide feedback regarding students’ drinking behaviors in comparison with their peers and motivate them to change have shown effectiveness in reducing drinking rates and alcohol-related harm among students, according to research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
One such intervention, eCHECKUP TO GO, has been required for all NDSU first-year students since fall 2009 as part of the NDSU President’s Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs’ “Strategic Plan to Address High-Risk Alcohol and Other Drug Use.” Students are notified of the requirement by the dean of student life at the beginning of their first semester at NDSU and are given six weeks to complete the personalized tool.
In fall 2009, the requirement was piloted with a goal of a 50 percent completion rate for first-year students during their first semester at NDSU. Since then, the goal was to increase the completion rate to 95 percent of all first-year students. The goal was achieved in 2012-13, with more than 95 percent of NDSU first-year students completing eCHECKUP TO GO in the fall and spring semesters.
“We know that eCHECKUP TO GO has been shown to be effective at reducing risky drinking among college students. That’s why we are so pleased that the vast majority of our students complete this requirement during their first semester at NDSU,” said Janna Stoskopf, dean of student life.
eCHECKUP TO GO is an online intervention and personalized feedback tool designed to motivate students to reduce their alcohol consumption using personalized information about their own drinking and risk factors. eCHECKUP TO GO was selected for use with NDSU first-year students because of its research-based efficacy, ease of administration and affordability. Students also are encouraged to take the assessment on multiple occasions throughout their college career in order to reflect on their drinking behavior and track changes from previous assessments.
eCHECKUP TO GO is available online at www.ndsu.edu/alcoholinfo/alcohol_echeckup_to_go.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.