Safer Universities Program
Program Description
Safer Universities is an environmental alcohol prevention program grounded in community and university partnerships that focuses on reducing heavy alcohol use in off-campus settings such as homes/apartments, bars, and restaurants. It achieves these goals by utilizing a structured planning and implementation process to enhance enforcement of existing laws concerning alcohol use among youth in order to encourage responsible hosting and alcohol service in private and commercial settings. The program targets college and university students at the beginning of the fall academic session.
Prevention Category
Practice Level
Strategies
Practice Components
Risk and Protective Factors
Population Age
Populations of Focus
Settings
Parental/Caregiver Involvement
Substance Use Prevention Focus
Recommended Staffing
Empirical Evidence of Impact
| Substance | Substance-Related Behavior | Population Age | Evidence Strength and Study Populations of Focus |
| Alcohol | Reduced Use or Delayed Initiation | College Students | Strong (General Population)1 |
| References
1 Saltz, R. F., Paschall, M. J., McGaffigan, R. P., & Nygaard, P. M. (2010). Alcohol risk management in college settings: the safer California universities randomized trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 39(6), 491–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2010.08.020 |
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Training and Technical Assistance
No training or technical assistance is required to implement the Safer Universities Program, but the Safer Intervention Toolkit website provides free planning, management, and implementation support materials.
Adaptations
Practices modeled on the Safer Universities project have been successfully implemented in university communities in North Carolina and Washington state. The toolkit provides broad guidance that can be adapted based on community needs and implementation capacity.
Program Costs
Required training and implementation materials are available at no cost.
What California Providers Are Saying
We have not yet spoken to any California providers who have experience implementing the Safer Universities Program. If you have implemented it, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us.
Labels
Universal,
Community, Society, Community/Society, community society, community-society,
Information dissemination,
Community-based processes, community based processes, community/based processes,
Environmental,
Behavioral Modification,
Peer Norm Development,
Community-based Processes,
Enforce Existing Restrictions on Substance Use,
Media Campaigns,
Retail Availability Reduction,
Self-monitoring,
Shift Community Norms,
Social Availability Reduction,
Accessibility of substances,
Norms favorable towards substance use,
Substance use among peers,
Community norms, beliefs, and standards against substance use,
Age 18-20, ages 18-20,
Age 21-24, ages 21-24,
Students in College,
No parent/caregiver involvement,
Alcohol,
College or University,
Broader Community/Society, broader community society,
Health/social work counselor, therapist or professional (unlicensed), health social,
Health/social work counselor, therapist or professional (licensed),
Law Enforcement,
Peers,
Community Members,