Officials within the Office of First-Year and Transfer Programs have changed the alcohol educational program AlcoholEdu after the office received droves of negative feedback on the online course’s lack of information.

So far, the new program, Think About It, has received mostly positive reviews, said Cory Wallack, director of Syracuse University’s Counseling Center.

As of Sunday afternoon, 1,350 students completed Think About It, Wallack said. At the end of the course, he said students are asked to complete an evaluation in which they rate their experience. Currently, the overall satisfaction of the course has been rated as 4.2 out of 5, and students’ written comments have been “overwhelmingly positive,” he said.

Unlike AlcoholEdu, which focused on alcohol, Think About It focuses on minimizing the risks associated with sex, drugs and alcohol while in college. The online course features an updated interface with modernized videos and quizzes, Wallack said. The program takes an average of two and a half hours to complete and is mandatory for all first-year and transfer students.

SU changed the program after receiving widespread negative feedback from students regarding AlcoholEdu, Wallack said. Students complained that the program wasn’t engaging, seemed outdated and wasn’t informative, he said.

“The educational scope of AlcoholEdu was considerably narrower than the scope of Think About It,” said Wallack, who was a lead figure in the implementation of the program. “Think About It focuses on sexual decision-making, alcohol and drug use, sexual assault prevention and relationship violence prevention.”

The program is also customized for SU so that it includes campus-specific resources and photos, including a section that requires students to review the Code of Student Conduct and the Academic Integrity Policy, said Carrie Abbott, director of the Office of First-Year and Transfer Programs.

“Think About It uses technology that is more in line with what students would want and expect,” Abbott said. “We hope the program will make students think about decisions and make healthy choices.”

The program’s interactive, user-friendly technology makes it easy to pay attention to the course, said Meaghan Harkins, a freshman nutrition major. She said the course took more than two and a half hours to complete, but that the course material was informative.

“I knew most of the information they put out about unhealthy relationships, sexual assault and alcohol,” Harkins said. “But I feel like I did learn more about drugs and their effects.”

A crucial feature of Think About It is that it doesn’t inform students not to drink, but instead how to do so safely, Wallack said. This also applies to other sections, which he said are helpful in challenging gender roles, gender expectations and college culture.

The title of the program is reflective of the university’s goals in its implementation, Wallack said. He said Think About It aims to create an environment that is safe and inviting for all students to create an optimal learning environment inside and outside the classroom.

“Last year, over 150 students were transported to the hospital for alcohol poisoning,” Wallack said. “One of the most direct ways of creating a campus atmosphere that we desire is to have educational programs like this.”

Published on August 20, 2013 at 10:37 pm

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu