TOGA: Training on Greeks and Alcohol
Duration: 1 hour
Facilitator: Toben F. Nelson, ScD
Price: $50.00
Excessive alcohol use in the Greek system is a challenging and often frustrating concern for University administrators and students alike. Training on Greeks and Alcohol (TOGA) is an innovative risk management program for Greek leaders. TOGA was created in collaboration with student members of the Greek community and researchers at the University of Minnesota. TOGA is a program under development through a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and is not available for commercial use. TOGA builds on best practices for alcohol service gathered from more than 20 years of experience on college campuses and in commercial alcohol establishments. TOGA provides tools and leadership opportunities for Greek students to develop, implement and enforce policies and practices to create safer environments for students at social events where alcohol is served.
TOGA focuses on reducing the problems that result from excessive drinking using realistic and feasible practices for planning and managing social events. TOGA trainers are recently graduated fraternity and sorority leaders who work with campus administrators, inter-fraternity councils, chapter leaders, and individual house members to create and implement a customized strategy for each setting that helps manage and reduce the problems caused by excessive drinking. Trainers support members by showing (not just telling) how to effectively implement policies and practices and providing practical guidance on how to make the program work. This presentation will describe the program approach and present findings from formative research on program implementation at Universities in four states.
Brief outline:
- Current state of excessive drinking on college campuses
- Background on Alcohol Risk Management programs
- Development of TOGA
- TOGA Policies, Procedures and Tools
- Experiences from TOGA implementation
- Future directions for TOGA
Learning outcomes:
- Understand the unique risks associated with excessive drinking in the Greek community;
- Identify unique challenges to prevention of alcohol-related problems in the Greek community;
- Describe the development, unique features, and effectiveness of Alcohol Risk Management programs;
- Describe the features of the TOGA program that may help prevent excessive drinking and ensuing problems; and
- Identify opportunities for future applications of TOGA and alcohol risk management strategies on college campuses.
Who should attend:
Student Affairs administrators; Greek Affairs administrators; Greek chapter advisers; Greek student leaders; Campus Police and Security professionals
Presenter Biography:
Toben F. Nelson, ScD, is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a primary faculty member with the Alcohol Epidemiology Program. His research examines health policy, organizational change, social determinants of health, program evaluation, prevention of alcohol attributable harm, motor vehicle safety and obesity prevention.