Before a campus-wide drug education program can be developed, NIU students will be surveyed by a University Council committee.

Jon Dalton, vice president for Student Affairs, said a number of things must be done before it can be determined what services NIU needs for a complete drug education/prevention program.

Dalton is an ex officio member of the University Council’s ad hoc committee, designated to develop the program for all students.

The committee agreed the first step will be to develop “a comprehensive report and summary of the variety of drug education programs on campus to see what is going on,” Dalton said.

“It is difficult to see the variety of things going on because they are not summarized in a single program,” he said. There are a number of programs sponsored by Health Enhancement Services, as well as by other organizations on campus. The committee is still uncertain as to what is needed on campus because the present services have not been analyzed, he said.

The committee also agreed there should be more surveys done of NIU students to understand the extent of the problem of drug abuse on campus, Dalton said.

“There is information from national surveys, but we don’t have very good local data. It’s hard to adapt the results of national surveys to determine the situation here on campus,” he said.

With better survey data and a report of existing programs, the committee then will look at the development of a broader program, he said. Michael Haines, of Health Enhancement Services, will write up the new proposal. Haines also acts as an ex officio member on the committee.

Dalton said some of the campus community’s needs are known from research for the previous proposal concerning drug education/prevention for athletes. These include the need for a substance abuse counselor for those students who are overcoming a drug problem.

The committee will give an interim report to the council, possibly at its April 8 meeting, Dalton said. The interim report will include the summary report of existing programs on campus and the plans for student surveys, he said.

“I hope we can do this quick enough so we can do something by next fall,” Dalton said. Although there are only two council meetings left before next fall, he said committee members hope to get their recommendations in before then. He said none of the plans should take too long except, possibly, the surveying.

Dalton was chairman of the previous ad hoc committee designated to develop the program for athletes. The council, in favor of a campus wide program, voted down the proposal in January and designated a new committee be set up to study the development of a program for all students.