Less than 450 undergraduate students responded to the alcohol survey sent out in August.
The survey was sent out to gather information on student habits for education purposes, but many students were wary of disclosing information.
Lesley Black, associate dean of students, distributed an email Aug. 29 with a link to an optional and anonymous survey entitled “Alcohol Usage Survey.”
The survey asked students questions about the amount of alcohol, if any, they consume and where they consume it.
The goal was to organize information about alcohol consumption and use the findings to establish ways to inform students about the dangers of alcohol usage, Black said.
While there are regularly conducted national surveys that provide some information for schools, Black said the data aren’t representative of OCU in particular, which is why she chose to create the survey.
“We want information that can be used for education,” Black said.
But in comparison with how many surveys went out, fewer students responded to the survey.
“I was happy with the response rate, but, next year, I’d love for it to be higher,” Black said.
Some students felt uncomfortable answering the survey because of the fear of being identified.
Kira Poole, English sophomore, chose not to respond to the survey because of that and also because she thought the motives were unclear.
“When I actually opened the email and read the questions, I got spooked and decided not to do it at all because I didn’t trust that it was going to be anonymous,” she said.
Poole said it is silly that officials expected students to answer honestly. She said she felt uncomfortable with how intimate the questions were. She also didn’t want her answers to affect her scholarship.
“I wrote in my contract, as a scholarship student, that if I ever get caught, they will take every cent of scholarship I have,” Poole said. “I’m not a drinker whatsoever, but, if I can’t trust that it’s anonymous, I won’t admit to anything at a conservative university. I’ll lose everything, and I think that’s why people are reluctant to answer.”
Black said students shouldn’t worry about her tracing the responses back to them, but she understands why it is stressful for some students.
“I don’t know if students believe that it’s really anonymous. I think that makes people a little nervous about responding,” Black said.
Survey questions included demographic information like students’ majors and classifications and what school they study in. Students also were asked whether they were on a sports team or in a Greek organization.
Black said students also shouldn’t worry about their responses reflecting their organizations.
When Black reviewed the results of the survey, she was pleased to find that 76 percent of the responding students said they had not binge drank in the past two weeks, and 66 percent said they hadn’t consumed alcohol in the past week at all.
“Binge drinking is a very high risk behavior that we absolutely want students to avoid,” Black said.
Only 21 percent of respondents reported drinking alcohol on campus.
According to the handbook from OCU’s drug and alcohol prevention programs: “any student found using or distributing alcohol and other drugs on campus, in on-campus housing, or during campus- sponsored activities can face disciplinary action by the University.” This includes the possibility of a drug assessment, referral for counseling and treatment based upon the recommendation of a counselor.
Black said, while she was pleased with the results she saw, she did not get the information she wanted because of the low response rate. She plans to distribute the survey again next year and hopes for a higher response rate.
“We have approximately 1,800 undergraduate students, so we would love 1,800 students to respond,” Black said. “But if we can double our response rate and get 700 responses, that would be fantastic.
“We need to make sure students understand that it’s anonymous, and we need to encourage more people to take it.”
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