The ROI of Preventing Alcohol Misuse and Sexual Assault on College Campuses

The ROI of Preventing Alcohol Misuse and Sexual Assault on College Campuses
Resources

August 7, 2023

Resource: Blog Industry: Higher Education
Tags: Online Training, Prevention, Student Training

In addition to supporting and protecting your community, prevention efforts have the ability to drive strategic outcomes across the student lifecycle: from enrollment and engagement to academic performance and retention to career readiness and alumni development. Vector Solutions is committed to elevating the student success impact and value of safety, well-being, and inclusion.

Safer, more inclusive campuses positively impact brand, student success, engagement, and retention. 

1. Academic Outcomes and Student Success

  • Alcohol misuse and sexual assault derail student success. 
  • As high-risk drinking increases the likelihood of an A/A- GPA decreases. 
  • Sexual assault survivors are 2x more likely than their peers to miss class and perform poorly on schoolwork. 

"Preventable harms and high-risk behaviors impact students inside and outside the classroom. These issues undermine the mission and business of higher education, and require significant investment and deliberate focus to achieve their transformative potential."

- Rob Buelow,
General Manager, Education

2. Student Engagement and Belonging

  • Students feel more connected to their institutions when they participate in alcohol misuse and sexual assault prevention training. 
  • Alcohol misuse and sexual assault prevention training lead to a greater sense of belonging and satisfaction. 
  • 70% of students that completed Vector courses felt valued by their institutions compared to 46% that didn't. 

"Safer and more inclusive campuses foster higher performing students, providing an experience and set of skills that make them successful in their time on campus and beyond. Every dollar put towards prevention has the potential for significant returns."

- Rob Buelow
General Manager, Education

3. Student Persistence and Retention

  • Even modest gains in alcohol and sexual assault prevention training participation are linked to increases in student retention and graduation rates. 
  • 67% of AlcoholEdu learners report feeling more likely to complete their degree. 
  • Training teaches essential life skills like interpersonal communication, cultural competence, resilience, and self-management. 

"Safety, well-being, and inclusion issues stand in the way of persistence, with significant costs to your students and your campus. When your alcohol misuse and sexual assault prevention strategies are best-in-class, the programs more than pay for themselves."

- Rob Buelow
General Manager, Education

Take an Integrated Approach to Alcohol and Sexual Assault Prevention

Explore the challenges and strategies that will help you overcome barriers to your prevention programs below:

Campuses lack the resources to research, develop, and scale evidence-based programs.

  • Engage alcohol and sexual assault prevention practitioners collaboratively to deliver co-curricular education for students and employees. 
  • Focus resources on programs with proven efficacy. 
  • Select programs that provide data to measure prevention progress and student success outcomes. 
  • Benchmark your prevention funding and staffing against leading institutions with the Campus Prevention Network Executive Diagnostic Assessment. 

High-risk students are difficult to identify and may resist prevention messages.

  • Provide all students with ongoing education that includes adaptive pathing and dynamic engagement strategies. 
  • Gather campus climate data to identify needs and strengths across your diverse community. 
  • Empower your students with bystander intervention skills to recognize risky or harmful behavior among their peers and take action to create a safer community. 
  • Promote healthy campus culture by demonstrating leadership commitment and highlighting positive social norms. 

Efforts to address student drinking and sexual assault exist in silos.

  • Integrate safety, well-being, and inclusion into an institution-wide strategic plan with shared goals. 
  • Provide training opportunities to build cross-functional skills. 
  • Centralize reporting to remove structural barriers to collaboration. 

When it comes to alcohol misuse and sexual assault, it's time to treat prevention as an investment and not an expense. 

Promote Student Success through Prevention Training

Get a firsthand look at how our industry-leading alcohol and sexual assault prevention programming suite drives student success and supports your institutional goals. 

Explore Student Training

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