MADISON—The University of Wisconsin System will host its third symposium to address alcohol and other drug abuse issues on college campuses.
The UW System AODA symposium will include participation from each of the 15 UW System campuses, as well as representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Wisconsin Technical College System, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and the Wisconsin Chapter of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. The event will be held Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 10-11), at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
The symposium will bring together AODA coordinators; counselors and health professionals; officers of judicial affairs, public safety and law enforcement; directors of residence life and student life; community representatives; and students, faculty and administrators. Themes for discussion will include the student transition from high school to college, behaviors and expectations regarding alcohol and other drugs, and state and university responses to those issues and concerns.
Mary Stuart Hunter, director of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and the first-year seminar at the University of South Carolina, will deliver a keynote address at 11 a.m. on Monday. Laurie Davidson, associate director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, will present a session on effective AODA strategies at 4:15 p.m. The symposium will also include a panel discussion on youth risk behaviors in high school and transitional and first-year issues, and poster sessions detailing best practices from UW campuses.
Conference participants will also discuss results of a systemwide AODA assessment pilot project, consider a DPI Youth Risk Survey, and work to encourage reshaping of the environment in which students make decisions regarding alcohol use.
The conference is a part of a larger goal to effectively address AODA issues within the UW System, which also hosted symposia in 1998 and 2001. Since 1998, the UW System AODA Committee, chaired by UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Donald Mash, and campus consortia have played an active role in addressing these issues and presented a strategic plan to the Board of Regents in 2001.
Visit the Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse website for more information about UW System’s AODA policy.