The Dean of Students’ Office is aiming to replace current incoming student alcohol programs with new student-made productions. The student-made videos must be proposed to the office, with bids starting at $1,000 dollars for the winning entry. The proposals are due to David Tuttle, dean of students and vice president for student affairs, by Feb. 21.
This new initiative looks to replace the online education courses for all new students regarding alcohol policy and safety. According to the proposal guidelines listed online, the change comes as an attempt by the university to “seek a new way to convey Trinity specific information to new students that is more focused on our campus, less tedious and time consuming and that uses humor to convey information.”
With new programs already in place “Optimal Buzz,” organized by Richard Reams, assistant director of counseling services, the change hopes to introduce more programs with a new approach.
To Tuttle, while the old programs were reportedly effective, there are always better ways.
“Students report their behavior has been affected from the information learned from these programs,” Tuttle said. “However, we are always looking for new ways and different ways to do things.”
One of these proposed new ways are the student made videos, ones that Tuttle hopes will be more entertaining and informative, keeping students engaged throughout.
“Instead of sitting through an hour to 90 minute course that they may or may not be watching, that may or may not be sending the right message, why not do something that’s a little more engaging for them and a little more relevant,” Tuttle said. “The idea is to have students create the video ““ all we are going to do is say “˜get these points across and you guys do something that will keep students watching till the end.”
For students on campus as well, this new change is for the better. To sophomore Josh Humphreys, the old programs were ineffective and gave the wrong message at times.
“The program is not very effective ““ it’s out of date,” Humphreys said. “Fear doesn’t really benefit anyone, so its better to use positive reinforcement, show students how to be safe and be more mitigating.”
Tuttle also thinks the new program should shift from enforcement and lean towards education and being smart about the situations you are put into.
“We are trying to shift the focus from enforcement onto consumption levels,” Tuttle said. “We are looking to find ways to affect the culture that is, often times quite difficult to affect.”
Other students, such as sophomore Andro Suskevcevic, just the prospect of the program being made by students adds a lot to the content, making it more intriguing and relatable.
“Being student made would make it more enjoyable to watch,” Suskevcevic said. “It would be interesting to see people you know or recognize on campus in the videos.”
The opportunity to be involved in the procedure and process of these new videos is appealing to many students and benefits everyone involved.
“First off everyone benefits from it,” Suskevcevic said. “Students who win get paid if their idea is the best, and that is good for everyone.”
With the proposal deadline next week, students and faculty are hoping to see results that are even more effective than those previous years.
“The most important aspect is education,” Humphreys said. “Negative approaches won’t effectively change the drinking habits of students ““ its better to show them how to be safe and to use their knowledge to handle situations.”
