Alcohol Task Force

The campus and community focus on the issue of high risk alcohol consumption has intensified over the last few years, in part due to the interest and concern raised by Miami’s Board of Trustees. President Hodge announced the creation of the current task force in the September 2014 State of the University address. Specifically, the President charged the task force with the following:

1. Communicate widely to the campus and broader Oxford community about the committee’s purpose and progress.
2. Review the national context of high risk alcohol consumption on U.S. campuses.
3. Arrange for, support, and work with an external consultant to execute and review a comprehensive scan of the Miami University/Oxford environment as it relates to high risk alcohol consumption.
4. Examine local and national data on high risk alcohol use and its consequences; identify gaps in local data availability, and develop recommendations for enhanced local data collection, specifically in terms of the number and timing of surveys, the type(s) of information gathered, and ways of promoting response rates in order to ensure representative samples.
5. Throughout the process, partner closely with existing town-gown (Oxford-Miami University) organizations to inform them of the process and committee progress, and to seek input and consensus where appropriate.
6. Engage a wide array of campus and community stakeholders (e.g., students, faculty, staff (classified and unclassified), police (Miami and Oxford), local business owners, landlords, community groups, etc.) in an effort to (i) better understand the extant ecological context, including the current impact of high risk alcohol use on the community, and (ii) evaluate the potential efficacy of various interventions, as well as the costs and tradeoffs associated with the interventions.
7. In light of the committee’s understanding of the national context and local environmental conditions and the accumulated stakeholder input and awareness of the local culture, traditions, laws etc., and in close consultation with the supporting town-gown structures, and after a thorough public vetting with relevant stakeholders, develop a strategic plan for creating a healthier community. This strategic plan should be far reaching (involving both the Miami Oxford campus and the Oxford community) and comprehensive, and aimed at reducing the propensity of and mitigating the costs associated with high risk alcohol consumption.
8. Seek widespread endorsement of plan from the Miami University President and Board of Trustees, to the Oxford Mayor, City Manager, and City Council to grassroots and student organizations.
9. Ensure an orderly transition of the strategic plan to an existing university entity and/or local town-gown structure (as appropriate) that will oversee its execution and ongoing refinement.