The average number of drinks a University of Idaho student consumes in one sitting is 5.5, half a drink more than the number of drinks that defines binge drinking, according to the 2011 National College Health Assessment.
Four students in the Department of Movement Sciences recommend the implementation of a program to help University of Idaho Students in recovery from addiction.
This group of seniors in the Exercise Science program researched campus recovery programs as part of a yearlong class about healthy lifestyles. Professor Helen Brown said the students began their research when they found an opportunity to look at campus recovery programs, and the possibility to initiate and maintain a recovery program within the University of Idaho. They presented their research Wednesday to a group of interested parties.
Student Dylan Watts said the students have been talking to people within the Stacie Mathewson Foundation — a program dedicated to helping with programs that address substance addictions.
“The Stacie Mathewson Foundation has 100 grants available to universities to help their programs get started,” Watts said. “We’ve been in contact with them, and they seem very ambitious about helping universities get this grant money.”
Watts said the foundation has helped many universities start recovery programs by giving advice and encouragement, as well as grant money.
“One of the great things about starting this grant application with the Stacie Mathewson Foundation is that they really work with you side by side,” he said.
Another of the students, Justin Johnson, said a recovery program is important for UI students, because a high number of students at the university drink heavily — according to information gathered in a survey for the National College Health Assessment in 2011.
“There are almost as many students who drink seven or more drinks at one sitting, at 20 percent, as there are students who do not drink alcohol at all,” he said.
Johnson said 3 percent of the UI student population drinks heavily six times or more, during a two-week time period.
“That’s about 375 of our students who drink every other day of the week or more. We know that drinking is a problem at most universities, our university as well,” he said. “What we don’t know is actually how many of our students are in recovery or are substance-dependent. That’s something we feel is very important for our university to find out in the future.”
The students talked to facilitators for collegiate recovery programs within other universities, including Boise State University, Gonzaga University and Oregon State University. Student Kaitlyn Oster said these universities have successful programs, though the actual programs vary a bit.
Not all of the schools received a grant from the Stacie Matheson Foundation, because Gonzaga University received a donation from an individual instead. This campus also included a physical space for students to get help with their recovery — something Oster said the group thought would be helpful to UI students as well. She said one common feature is an application process that students must complete to show a dedication to recovering.
“They have to make the commitment to stay sober,” she said. “A lot of them have to have been sober or committed to recovery from somewhere from three to six months.”
Kara Walther finished the students’ presentation by explaining the use of the 11 critical assets listed by the Stacie Matheson Foundation. She said UI either does not met or only partially meets more than half of the items on the list, but that a lot of the elements that would be required for a formal program are already in place.
She said the money from the foundation is meant to be used to improve the capacity of programs on college campuses, and suggested the money from the grant should go toward training people to help those seeking recovery.
Daphne Jackson can be reached at [email protected]