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BOSTON - July 30, 2007 - Outside The Classroom, a Boston-based online prevention company, launched its latest version of AlcoholEdu for College, the company's best-selling product. Administered at more than 500 institutions nationwide, AlcoholEdu for College has incorporated the most comprehensive research and development process in the field, including qualitative and quantitative analysis of more than 800,000 students who have taken the course in previous years, feedback from hundreds of administrators, input from internal and external experts, and the latest scientific findings and prevention strategies. More than 450,000 students are expected to take the program this academic year.
AlcoholEdu for College introduces new features that will help students internalize important information and promote student engagement on campus. The program now contains the following updates:
- Innovative student engagement tools support student connections and involvement in intellectual and social experiences that are not defined by alcohol. Through permission-based questions, students receive more opportunities to get involved in alcohol-free programming on their campus. A new, optional social networking site also connects like-minded students who don't drink or choose not to on any given night and links them to alcohol-free social activities taking place on college campuses and in their communities.
- Enhanced student personalized pathways through AlcoholEdu accurately address students at various stages of risk and supplying students with a better understanding of their current relationship with alcohol. The new Alcohol Risk Transition Algorithm uses multiple variables to link students' readiness to change their drinking habits over time with consumption patterns.
- Revised innovative and interactive experiences encourage responsible drinking practices through tools that help students manage and redefine their relationship with alcohol in healthy and safe ways. Students can access their "Personal Plans," available from the My AlcoholEdu portal, to refer to safe drinking strategies and prevention goals.
- Intensive self-evaluations through revised, thought-provoking surveys provide students with insight into their current drinking decisions and compare the results to those of other college students.
- Expanded Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Curve exercise promotes improved retention of factors that impact BAC levels. Students work with multiple BAC curves that emphasize the individual effect of sex, weight, alcohol concentration, and pacing on a person's BAC level. All BAC Curves are customizable to portray alternate scenarios.
- Additional research and resources guide students to more in-depth discussions and encourages them to participate in policy changes on campus.
New Supplemental Programs for AlcoholEdu
The new release of AlcoholEdu for College also includes SexualAssaultEdu™, an optional module integrated seamlessly into AlcoholEdu for College that provides an in-depth look at the sexual assault issue, and AlcoholEdu for Parents, an additional program that promotes parental conversations about alcohol.
SexualAssaultEdu relies on proven prevention theories and educational strategies, focusing on ethics of relationships and decision-making, addressing important terminology, and discussing alcohol's effects on one's ability to give consent.
AlcoholEdu for Parents distinguishes the important role parents play in their students' decisions regarding alcohol. Designed specifically for parents or guardians of students taking AlcoholEdu for College, this program offers suggestions on how to initiate discussions about alcohol, alcohol fact sheets, and supportive information. AlcoholEdu for Parents directly connects parents or guardians to AlcoholEdu for College, allowing them to view the course and understand the material presented to their students.
Both SexualAssaultEdu and AlcoholEdu for Parents work in tandem with AlcoholEdu for College, presenting facts in a consistent, non-opinionated tone and format.
Enhancements for Program Administrators
Through Outside The Classroom's partnership with Educational Benchmarking, Inc. (EBI), the leading company in collegiate statistical data analysis, clients now also receive their data in an online, interactive format, giving them the ability to sort and use the information to best display points of interest. Through EBI, clients can compare their data to a national aggregate, their Carnegie classifications, and six peer or aspiration institutions.
This year's enhancements also include updates to the AlcoholEdu Hub, a 24-hour administrative Web site that provides clients with important program-related information and tools. Administrators can now access the AlcoholEdu for College Client Directory, utilize the Prevention Practice Tab for assistance in comprehensive prevention efforts, and easily access important messages for clients during their program planning and implementation.
All new student and administrator features are available immediately through AlcoholEdu for College.
"This is by far the best version of AlcoholEdu for College to date," said Outside The Classroom's Founder and CEO, Brandon Busteed. "We have worked exceptionally hard to bring students and administrators an educational and engaging course that demonstrates the current findings in the field of alcohol prevention and fully captures the audience's attention. AlcoholEdu for College represents some of the most exciting new innovations ever to be introduced in our seven years of development."
AlcoholEdu for College is a science-based, online, Population-Level Prevention® program designed to educate an entire population of students on the risks associated with alcohol consumption. Student perceptions about drinking are challenged by relevant data from the field in order to promote change in student expectations about alcohol and enable students to make safer, healthier decisions. AlcoholEdu for College is personalized to each student based on past drinking patterns, sex, and current perceptions about alcohol. Over 500 institutions nationwide have used AlcoholEdu for College as a way to educate students about the health risks associated with binge drinking.
Similar enhancements will also be applied to AlcoholEdu for Sanctions, a secondary prevention program designed specifically for students who have violated campus alcohol policies.
About Outside The Classroom
The leader in online prevention, Outside The Classroom is focused on tackling high-risk drinking and the related epidemic-level health issues by delivering programs designed for population-level applications. The company's programs, including AlcoholEdu and SexualAssaultEdu™, provide a personalized approach that helps students make safer, healthier decisions and reduce the risk associated with these critical behavioral health issues. Outside The Classroom's development team includes prevention professionals, assessment and evaluation experts, experienced educators, and leading scientists, including Duke University Medical Center's Scott Swartzwelder, Ph.D., and Aaron White, Ph.D., Boston University's William DeJong, Ph.D., University of Central Florida's Michael Dunn, Ph.D., and Keeling & Associates CEO Richard P. Keeling. Outside The Classroom collaborates with many prominent organizations, including the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
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