Project Impact and Outcomes

Project Impact -- Success Data!

From 1997 to 2000 the Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ community was exposed to an intensive print and electronic media social norms marketing campaign combined with curriculum infusion and co-curricular programming during first year orientation and residential education activities. The following slides chart the progress of correcting misperceived alcohol norms, reducing frequency and quantity of use, and the resulting harm caused by that use.

Social Norms Case Study

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention released a new publication by H. Wesley Perkins, and David W. Craig, titled "A Multifaceted Social Norms Approach to Reduce High-Risk Drinking: Lessons from Hobart and William Smith Colleges." This work provides a detailed example of coordinated social norms strategies producing positive results confirmed with extensive evaluation measures.

Most Valuable Players (MVP) Program Outcomes

• Publication of alcohol misuse reductions in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol
  Perkins, H. W. and Craig, D. W. "A Successful Social Norms Campaign to Reduce Alcohol Misuse Among Collete Student Athletes," Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67:880-888, 2006. Click here for the full article or press release.
  

• Results after just first year of program delivery at HWS
  Presented at the U.S. Department of Education’s 17th Annual National Meeting. Austin, TX October 18, 2003. Most Valuable Players-- Using Social Norms to Target Athletes as a High-risk Subpopulation. Additionally, you may click here for the full MVP Project web site.
  

• Press release of three-year program results with replication at five STARR schools
  (HWS press release, Project press release)
  

• The NCAA News "Alcohol-education pilot has a sobering effect in Division III
  The NCAA funded the simultaneous implementation of the HWS MVP program at eight other Division III institutions through their STARR program. The results from the first year of this replication project are summarized in this article by Beth Rosenberg, October 13, 2003.

• Five schools from the NCAA STARR MVP replication project continue for a second year.
  "Final results from a pilot program designed to encourage student-athletes to make responsible decisions about alcohol and tobacco use show that employing a "social norms" theory to encourage behavior can produce successful outcomes...." Results reported in The NCAA News June21, 2004 by Beth Rosenberg.
  

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