Report of the Working Group on Late Night Activities May 2008

Transcription

1 Report of the Working Group on Late Night Activities May 2008 Executive Summary The working group was charged with creating alcohol free late night activities during spring 2008 and identifying a long-term strategy to increase the number and quality of alcohol free late night activities. During spring 2008, two movies were shown starting at 11:00 PM at IMU, game night was held, and one course was taught late at night. Each of these activities had outstanding participation. The Working Group recommends the creation of a fund (the Great Iowa fund) to support late night programming. The funds will be allocated to campus groups on the basis of applications demonstrating that the proposed activity will advance the goals of the program. I. Charge to the Working Group Provost Lopes charged the Working Group to A. Create, during spring 2008, several proof-of-concept alcohol free late night activities. B. Identify a long-term strategy to increase the number and quality of alcohol free late night activities. II. Background In several reports (e.g., Undergraduate Experiences and Outcomes at The University of Iowa, Fulfilling the Promise, p. 257, The University of Iowa has documented a serious and widespread problem with binge drinking among our students. The data demonstrate that approximately 70% of undergraduate students report at least one Working group members included Alan Cosby (Student Organizations), Charlie Drum (University Relations), Wayne Fett (Recreational Services), Matthew Hauge (Student Organizations), Diane Hauser (Academic Advising Center), Sean Hesler, replaced by Kate Sojka (Residence Life), Megan Lyons (Student Services), Mary Mathew Wilson (Civic Engagement Program), Fred Mims (Athletics), Bill Nelson (University Life Centers and Office of Student Life). Tom Rocklin, Vice Provost, served as convener. Evalyn Van Allen-Shalash (Office of the Provost) provided administrative support.

2 episode of binge drinking in a typical two week period. This rate places Iowa among the US universities with the very greatest challenge in this area. Binge drinking has a clear negative association with grade point average even when pre-existing student characteristics (e.g., high-school GPA, ACT score, etc.) are statistically controlled. Binge drinking also is associated with a host of negative social, health, legal, and other problems. The University and the community recognize that reducing binge drinking will take time and will require multiple strategies. Indeed, the University has implemented some strategies that have demonstrated positive results (e.g., required completion of the Alcohol.Edu course, residence halls fine system for alcohol violations, the Graduate with Class initiative), and is beginning to implement others (e.g., increasing Friday classes). One strategy that the University has not systematically tried (though there are certainly examples, including Night Games and Residence Hall late night programming) involves providing attractive alcohol-free activities late at night on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays the times at which downtown bars are busiest. Such activities have the potential to both attract students who currently socialize in bars or other alcoholoriented venues and to support students who avoid alcohol-oriented venues, but are unable to find other attractive social activities late at night. III. Findings The charge to the working group did not call for extensive investigation. Nevertheless, we identified several generic challenges and opportunities. A. Challenges The challenges we identified fall into 2 general categories. 1. Policy challenges We identified several challenges based in current policies. Some of these challenges have been rectified as they have been identified. For example, building hours at the IMU in the past did not allow activities after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays (11:00 PM on Thursdays). IMU management has agreed to allow the building to be open for appropriate late night activities. There can also be scheduling challenges for activities that might occur on the Pentacrest. 2. Cultural challenges As bars have come to dominate entertainment for students, particularly late at night on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, units that provide campus programming have faced barriers in providing events on those nights because of the challenge of attracting an audience. Most of the organizers of student activities have developed practices of scheduling events on Sunday through

3 Wednesday, creating a negative cycle in which limited participation reduces the availability of alcohol-free activities, which in turn reduces participation. IV. Spring 2008 Activities Members of the working group created and held three events during the Spring 2008 semester. These events, serve as proof of concept, and demonstrate that alcohol-free late night activities can attract substantial numbers of students. A. Lifetime Leisure Skills: Ballroom Dancing II: Night Club Series (410:078:SCM) This course met in the Field House on two successive Thursdays and Saturdays from 10:00 PM to 1:30 AM beginning April 3. The course could accommodate forty students, and forty students enrolled. The course was financed, as all Lifetime Leisure Skills courses are, by a course fee ($30, in this case). B. Late night movies Campus Activities Board showed two movies, each starting at 11:00, during April. Approximately 180 students watched Juno on April 18, and approximately 150 students watched Sweeney Todd on April 26. CAB is committed to late night movies and late night Hawkeye Room programming in the future. C. Late Night in the Union On May 3, Campus Activities Board sponsored a game night in the Hawkeye Room. From 11:00 to 1:00, students played ping-pong, pool, and other games. Winners were entered into drawings for prizes. Approximately 100 students attended. V. Activities planned for Fall 2008 and beyond A. Programming at Iowa Memorial Union Campus Activities Board, Office of Student Life, and the Iowa Memorial Union are committed to providing one late night movie per month and two late night programs in The Hawkeye per semester. These activities will start at 11:00 PM. B. Lifetime Leisure Studies: Late Night Outdoor Recreation Lifetime Leisure Skills has scheduled a late night course for fall 2008 that will involve sports such as mountain biking and bouldering. C. Late Night Bowling At the time this report was completed, plans were being made for a late night bowling event at Colonial Lanes during Riverfest The emerging plan is to use Cambus to transport students from the Residence Halls (and perhaps other pick up

4 points) to Colonial Lanes late on a Thursday night for bowling, putt-putt golf, and pizza. Participants will be charged a modest fee (e.g., five dollars). Subsidy funds may be necessary for this event. University Housing and Recreational Services are collaborating to create this event. D. Coming Home The Office of Student Life is working with Habitat for Humanity to sponsor the opportunity for student groups to build and decorate walls late at night the weekend before homecoming next fall. The walls will be put on wheels and pulled in the parade. The next weekend, these walls will be assembled into the framing for a Habitat house. VI. Recommendations A. Create and manage a fund to be distributed in support of late night activities. Existing organizations and units have long experience in providing programs that attract students, but need encouragement to provide those programs late at night. We recommend that a $25,000 fund be created to support late night activities. We have attached a draft call for proposals and guidelines for what we have called Great Iowa. It will take time for this program to succeed. We recommend a three-year commitment to operating this fund. At the end of three years, data (see evaluation plan below) will be available to support a decision about continuing the fund. B. Identify a mechanism to coordinate opportunities to collaborate with off campus entities. We believe that there are real opportunities to collaborate with local businesses and local governments in providing late night programming. We recommend that a specific person or unit be identified to coordinate these collaborations. C. Charge a specific administrator to convene a group to evaluate the effectiveness of these proposals in December 2008, June 2009, and annually thereafter. It is reasonable to assume that participants in University sponsored alcohol free late night activiities will include both those who were attracted away from drinking and those who would not have been drinking even if the activity had not occurred. The activities will be valuable to the first group because of reduced drinking. They will also be valuable to the second group because of increased satisfaction with and engagement in University activities. Over the long term, the availability of late night alcohol-free activities will attract students to the University who, on average, are less interested in drinking.

5 VII. Evaluation plan We believe that our proposals can be evaluated effectively based on participation and cost. In particular, our proposals can be judged successful if: 1. The total number of students participating in late night alcohol free activities increases over time. Participation cannot be expected to increase indefinitely, but at least over the first several years of efforts to increase alternative programming, steady increases should be possible. 2. The number of late night activities increases. Ultimately, we would expect the university, in cooperation with the local community to provide several different alcohol free events every weekend. 3. The central subsidy per participant decreases over time. Programming against the bar scene on Thursday through Saturday nights is risky in the current climate. Sponsors may not be able to attract an audience that will justify the expense of the activity. The Great Iowa program is designed to reduce that risk by lowering or eliminating dependence on participant payments to fund the activity. We expect that two things will reduce reliance on central subsidies over time. First, sponsoring organizations will learn what characteristics make activities attractive late at night on Thursdays through Saturdays. Second, we expect cultural norms to begin to change as students become accustomed to the availability of alternative activities. 4. If available, survey results support the hypothesis that alternative activities are substituting for alcohol-centered activities. VIII. Conclusions The administrator charged with evaluation should seek opportunities to embed one or more questions regarding alternative activities in a student survey. Our discussions have convinced us that there are a host of potential alcohol free late night activities possible at The University of Iowa and that with encouragement, existing units that develop activities for students will rise to the challenge of providing these activities.