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The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of heavy alcohol use, related harm, and implications for prevention among community college students. We used data from 7,965 students at 19 community colleges who responded to the Core Alcohol and Other Drug Survey. This secondary analysis of the survey data found heavy consumption among 47% of 17- to 24-year-old community college students, a figure that reflects national trends at 4-year colleges, and a significant heavy consumption rate (23%) among students who are 25 or older. Similarly, the study found that consumption and harm varied by individual background, environment, and student attitudes. Community colleges are challenged to consider the role alcohol plays in student health and learning, and whether new efforts to ameliorate the harm from heavy alcohol use are warranted in an era of limited institutional resources.

This study examines the use of technology as a tool in the broad-based delivery of alcohol health education within fraternities and sororities. Building on the promise of multimedia education, this evaluation examines an alcohol abuse prevention program delivered through an interactive web-based format for reducing the harm associated with alcohol abuse. The evaluation uses a clustered randomly assigned post-test only evaluation design with 3,552 individuals in 340 chapters to examine differences between individuals who have and who have not received the educational curriculum. The outcome of the study is building evidence that technology-delivered alcohol education has potential to modestly impact academic and personal harm associated heavy alcohol use.

This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a pilot, multi-faceted, and multi-session alcohol abuse prevention program conducted in conjunction with two sorority chapters. The process and product of the pilot program are illustrative of the use of theory and evidence-based practices in the creation of innovative substance abuse prevention efforts among fraternal organizations within higher education. Findings point to practical implementation challenges and to promising evidence of program impact. Recommendations inform practitioners in implementing evidence-based practices with fraternal chapters.

One hundred and eighty-four undergraduate students participated in a discussion on common secondhand consequences of alcohol use, including concerns about personal safety and impact on living environments. Students participating in this discussion prior to completing an assessment of their support for change indicated significantly more support for education- and policy-based alcohol misuse prevention strategies than students completing the same assessment before the discussion. This easy-toimplement and brief intervention may strengthen student resolve to be more proactively involved in prevention of alcohol abuse for their campus community.

The authors examined the influence of fraternity men's expectancies regarding secondhand consequences of excessive drinking behavior on normative standards regarding alcohol use and consumption levels. Participants were 381 men from 26 chapters of 2 national fraternities. One organization participated in a brief intervention involving discussion of secondhand consequences of excessive drinking. Immediate influence of the intervention on perceived secondhand consequences of alcohol use was assessed using a posttest-only, randomized groups design. Results supported a hypothesized measurement model with 1 overall secondhand consequence expectancy construct and 4 subfactors: (a) Noise Disruptive of Sleep and Study, (b) Violence, (c) Sexual Assault, and (d) Property Damage. Cross-sectional analysis at the chapter and individual levels demonstrated that secondhand expectancies had an indirect effect on alcohol consumption, mediated by personal consumption standards for limiting alcohol consumption. The intervention had an effect on secondhand expectancies. Findings suggest that interventions with intact groups can increase secondhand expectancies regarding excessive drinking and may lead to a reduction in excessive alcohol consumption.

This paper examines the effects of the migration pattern of college students in the United States, particularly within Illinois. Some states send most of their best and brightest to in-state schools, while others send a larger portion out of state. A set of winning and losing states is created in the migration pattern and ensuing economic benefits that follow those workers that are highly educated. Illinois exports many more high school graduates to colleges in other states than it imports. This migration pattern is important because college students who attend college in other states are far less likely to live and work in their home state after graduation. Thus, when Illinois loses a college student, its ability to build a competitive workforce – human capital – is diminished.

Making meaning of how, what, when, and where students learn is a vital, exciting, and inspiring component of higher education. Increasing external demands for accountability and internal commitments to improvement are amplifying the need for comprehensive assessment practices. Assessment Reconsidered: Institutional Effectiveness for Student Success promotes the shared ownership of assessment planning among faculty, student affairs educators, administrators, and students. As a project of the International Center for Student Success and Institutional Accountability (ICSSIA), Assessment Reconsidered focuses on the collaborative use of all campus resources in promoting student success. Written by an ensemble of educators with broad experience in assessment theory and practice in higher education, this illuminating work helps both student affairs professionals and faculty members address internal and public questions about the functioning of postsecondary institutions by reconsidering assessment policies, patterns, and practices in colleges and universities. While the book acknowledges and responds to greater expectations for institutional accountability, its focus is on building capacity to engage in evidence-based, reflective practice and supporting educators in doing their best work. Assessment Reconsidered is not primarily a workbook or “how to” manual; instead, it addresses the substantive aspects of assessment and prepares readers to begin or improve assessment practice; it lays the foundation of concepts, knowledge, and skills that is essential for effectiveness

A survey of 2,520 college students was conducted to test relationships between academic success and college student motivational orientation, conceptualized from a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective, while also considering the moderating effects of background characteristics such as gender, socioeconomic status, race/ ethnicity, and institutional type. Findings indicated that going to college to fulfill intrinsic motivation needs for autonomy and competence was positively associated with intention to persist and GPA but that motivation geared toward the fulfillment of relatedness needs had a more nuanced relationship to the outcome variables. Implications for recognizing the importance of motivational orientation in student affair research, theory, and practice are provided.

Research indicates that reasons for attending college influence college success and that college students of color (CSC) can be motivated to attend college for different reasons than White college students (WCS). The Need for Relatedness at College Questionnaire (NRC-Q) was developed and tested to provide an instrument for identifying and understanding the various ways in which needs for relatedness, a salient motivator for many CSC, affect college success. On the basis of the recommendation from D. Guiffrida’s (2006) cultural critique of V. Tinto’s (1993) theory, the scale was developed with a self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & M. R. Ryan, 1991) perspective. Results support the content validity, internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity of the scale items, and a confirmatory factor analysis supported the underlying structures of the scale. Results also suggest that college students’ needs for relatedness at home are more complex than previous research has suggested.