By Dinah Alobeid
Northeastern is stepping up efforts to accomplish one of its major goals – curbing underage and irresponsible drinking.
The university’s proposed solution to the alleged drinking problem is the recently-created position of alcohol and other drug education coordinator, which was added to the Office of Student Affairs on Monday.
The new position, which has been in the works since last fall, will work to ensure that all Northeastern programs, from Residence Life to the Greek community to student groups, discuss alcohol and drug problems. The coordinator will also work to create programs for substance abuse education, said Ed Klotzbier, vice president for student affairs.
Chet Bowen, the newly appointed coordinator, had previously worked as a Northeastern admissions counselor and advisor to several fraternities, as well as the NU Democrats. Before coming to Northeastern, he worked as an adolescent substance abuse counselor at the Boston Harbor School.
“He has great experience that will help him with this position and we are excited,” Klotzbier said. “We are really trying to take a programmatic approach and help people understand the seriousness of binge drinking. Chet is a former life substance abuse counselor and we were really fortunate to have someone like him already working for the school.”
Bowen said he feels very qualified for his new job.
“I was interested in the position because of my work at the Harbor School,” he said. “Eight out of 10 times, the problems the students had were alcohol or drug-related.”
Bowen said as a counselor at Northeastern, he will take a different approach to the entire program.
“When [the position] was up I thought, ‘Hey, I can do this and I can relate to the students,'” he said.
Bowen graduated from Plymouth State University in 2002 with a degree in psychology. He is currently two classes and 600 hours away from receiving his masters degree in counseling psychology from Northeastern.
“It’s a new position and I want to bring an innovative approach. Because I’m so young I think I can act as an advocate for the students as well as an advocate of the staff,” Bowen said. “My main goal is to try to make things proactive rather than reactive. People think if they drink they will get in trouble, but hopefully we can work on prevention as well.”
Bowen said he will focus on taking an unbiased stance and is not necessarily “an advocate of abstinence from drinking, but a huge advocate of safe drinking.”
The qualities Northeastern had searched for in potential candidates included a previous relationship with the university and someone who could help the Office of Student Affairs manage issues brought up by individuals and student groups.
Numerous entities, including administrators in student affairs as well as student leaders, were brought in to help.
Bowen said he will begin “addressing the issues” as soon as possible. However, substance abuse is not the education coordinator’s only focus.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily only a student conduct issue,” Klotzbier said. “[The position is] about health, academics and overall well-being.”
Klotzbier said Bowen, along with the Office of Student Affairs, will put together good programming to work with students, student leaders and faculty to bring the subject to the forefront of the Northeastern community.
The coordinator will also take a look at the policies in place for students who violate the Code of Student Conduct. These include an amnesty program, which Klotzbier said was “a big priority” of his, in addition to party registration for on-campus residents. Essentially students of age who live in on-campus housing would have to pre-register their parties with the university through student affairs and possibly the Northeastern Police Department.
“I think it would be better not to charge students so severely because of alcohol,” middler computer engineering major Ross Slade said. “I’m learning about this stuff in my psych class. I think if the school had some sort of alcohol education, people would be smarter about what they do.”
One recent graduate, however, said she thinks Northeastern’s money could be put to better use.
“I think there are a lot of bigger issues on campus they could be hiring for and spending money on,” finance graduate Tanya McClurkin said. “It’s a waste of students’ time and the school’s time. Maybe something like cross-cultural geared programs and education would be something worthwhile.”
Bowen’s first task will be administering AlcoholEdu, the alcohol education program for freshmen.
Bowen said he is glad to accept the position and feels he is off to a good start.
“Already these first two days we have worked so cohesively that I could just see how well we can work together,” he said. “I think the school is doing a good job, but I come from a different grain. My number one concern is that the students are safe, and that’s it.”
