By Ketul PatelThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern will offer a program next year that will provide students with substance abuse problems an alternative to suspension.
Unlike programs at many universities that focus on “get tough” policies, “Back on TRAC: Treatment, Responsibility and Accountability on Campus” is designed to help students who might otherwise face suspension for alcohol or drug-related offenses.
“You don’t need to be kicking students out,” said Randy Monchick, the national director of the program, which focuses on students with behavioral problems related to substance abuse. “This is tough, but embracing, love. Obviously, the threat of being dismissed is the stick held over their heads to make sure they get treatment.”
NU is one of five sites chosen to be a national demonstration site for the program.
“It helps us create an environment to make it more manageable to do it on campus,” said Jessica Sempek, coordinator of alcohol and other drug education at NU. “Students would have a team to assist them.”
The program is modeled on the drug court system, a special court that uses supervision, drug testing, treatment services and rewards and punishments to deal with substance-abusing offenders, according to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Back on TRAC is based on the DAY IV program at Colorado State University, developed by Lisa Miller. She said programs like DAY – which stands for Drugs, Alcohol and You – present an alternative to dismissing students from school.
“It feels more responsible to student needs and issues than to kick them out,” Miller said.
Since the beginning of DAY IV in spring of 2002, around 69 to 75 percent of participants have completed the program, Miller said. Only 4 percent of those who finish the program have problems with drugs or alcohol afterward, she said.
Mary Desler, NU’s associate vice president and dean of student affairs, said the program would help students who might otherwise face suspension from the university.
“Sometimes, if we’ve exhausted all the usual responses to alcohol problems, we would often have to end up suspending the student,” she said. “This gives us yet another step to enable students to deal with their problem.”
Desler said her office handles cases of students who may have violated university rules while intoxicated. Students who are brought to the attention of judicial affairs undergo an assessment to determine if they would benefit from additional counseling. Sometimes, this additional counseling takes place off campus, Desler said.
Desler declined to discuss the number of students who have received this counseling in the past.
Under the program, NU’s disciplinary system would refer students with past alcohol or drug problems to both her and Counseling and Psychological Services to determine if they have a serious problem with substance abuse.
If a student is found to have a problem, he or she would receive counseling from CAPS while Sempek would serve as case manager to make sure the student follows through with treatment, which includes community service and meetings with Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.
“People who are engaged in the system have a greater success rate,” Sempek said. “We want our students to be successful, so we want to assist them in managing their problems.”
This program would be geared toward the minority of students who cannot control their behavior, Sempek said. She said 31 percent of U.S. students abuse alcohol while 6 percent are dependent on alcohol.
“A minority of students cause a majority of the problems,” she said. “The majority of students who use alcohol do so in a responsible manner.”
Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].
