November 17, 1999

Grant Awarded To Ramapo College To Develop Alcohol/Drug Prevention Model

(Mahwah) -- Ramapo College of New Jersey has been awarded a grant of $15,000 from the New Jersey Higher Education Consortium on Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention and Education to support a prevention program. Dr. Al Frech, director of Ramapo's Center for Health and Counseling Services, and the project's director, notes that, ''Recently, considerable interest has focused upon a social norms prevention approach to decreasing college binge drinking rates by correcting student misperceptions of drinking norms.''
The grant will provide funding for three initiatives:

• formation of a campus-wide alcohol prevention task force involving participants from all sectors of campus life
• implementation of a media campaign and related activities to correct student misperceptions of campus drinking norms
• formation of a partnership with two other institutions of higher education who will serve as control conditions during the grant period.

The Consortium, hosted by Rowan College, is funded by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Division of Addiction Services.