WMU welcomes new leader of alcohol risk reduction

By Ali Pavlicek
Western Herald

Spicer

This fall, the Office of Health Promotion and Education at Western Michigan University created a new position:  the associate director of health for alcohol risk reduction. In October, Scott Spicer traveled from California to Michigan to take on the responsibilities of his new job.

“We saw the need to have one person who could bring together the efforts that other people are doing [across campus],” the Director of Health Promotion and Education, Cari Robertson said, who was the lead hiring official when a new associate director was being chosen.

Robertson said that the associate director of alcohol risk and reduction would mainly lead the development, implementation  and evaluation of a comprehensive, evidence-based alcohol risk reduction program. One way that this would be accomplished is through collaboration with many groups and individuals on and off campus to build upon existing programs and resources.

Spicer himself elaborated on his new responsibilities, saying that he would like to meet with people across campus to coordinate their existing efforts for alcohol risk reduction.

“I would like to bring people together to increase communication,” Spicer said.  “The team aspect is the most important in health education.”

Since he began as the new associate director, Spicer has been working closely with Robertson, talking about the structure and issues of the alcohol risk reduction services at WMU.

“Technically I am the direct supervisor for this position, but I see Scott as a fellow health educator, teammate and expert in his field,” Robertson said, whose office is located right next door to Spicer’s office.  “Scott and I communicate frequently in order to develop the most effective alcohol risk reduction program possible that is based on collaboration with many groups and individuals in the university community.”

Also, Spicer has been working with the Health Promotion and Education department along with other WMU staff in order to incorporate feedback into the alcohol-related programs available on campus.

In order to receive this input, Spicer has met with over 23 staff members, faculty and students across campus.

Spicer explained that there are then specific steps and models to follow beyond the collection of responses that he is familiar with from his past experiences working with government sponsored grants and AmeriCorps in the San Francisco area.

“I am passionate about working with and for communities,” Spicer said. “I like to focus on working with individuals who are agents of change.”

So far, Spicer has been in contact with four on-campus organizations that address alcohol issues.  These organizations include Greeks Advocating for the Mature Management of Alcohol (GAMMA), Western Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention (WASAP), University Mothers Against Drunk Driving (UMADD), and Drive Safe Kalamazoo (DSK). Robertson also mentioned Spicer’s involvement with Sindecuse’s Peer Education program and Eta Sigma Gamma.

“[Spicer] has a great start on assessing the campus alcohol prevention needs, existing programs and opportunities for collaboration,” Robertson said.

While working with students, Spicer does not like to bring up negative points about alcohol risks on campus.
“I like to emphasize the positive aspects so that the students really feel empowered to improve upon themselves,” he said.

Spicer looks forward to working with the University Substance Abuse Clinic to address a broad spectrum of alcohol abuse issues, the police department to discuss enforcement issues related to alcohol abuse and other departments, such as residence life and off campus affiliations that have direct connections to students.

A concept that Spicer suggested is to work with the community on alcohol risk reduction, since Greek houses, families and other colleges also surround WMU.

“[We should focus on] being good neighbors to promote Western as a positive atmosphere for success,” Spicer said.

Before Spicer had been hired at WMU, he was in the San Francisco Bay Area working under a grant that was in its third year of five years total.  Spicer said that the funding for the grant had been questionable at times, and he began to look at the Web site publichealthjobs.net, where he applied for the associate director of health for risk reduction services at Sindecuse Health Center.

After applying in December 2007, Spicer had been declined the position, but in July 2008, he received an e-mail notifying him that the position had been reopened. Spicer went through a phone interview and a visit to WMU’s campus in the following months, until he was offered the job to begin working during the fall semester.

In 2006, Spicer received his Master’s degree in public health with a focus in global health from Loma Linda University.  He said that he would like to do something international at some point, but he has learned that there are a lot of health-related issues occurring in this country that are also happening in developing countries.

“Recent experience that I have had was working for a nonprofit youth development organization in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Spicer said.  “I was focused on the young adult population preventing and reducing underage drinking, using models supported by the federal government.”

“Scott has excellent experience coming most recently from a very challenging position in community organizing for alcohol policy change,” Robertson said.  “We are excited that Scott is here to focus his time on aggressively reducing negative consequences from high risk drinking while empowering students to enjoy campus life in a fun and safe environment.”

Along with alcohol risk reduction, the Office of Health Promotion and Education offers a variety of programs to address students’ physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Students can take advantage of the department’s services, such as massage therapy, nutrition counseling, health coaching, and CPR training.  Call 269-387-3263 for more information about alcohol risk reduction or other health promotion and education services.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2602

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Nov 25 2008. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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