Alcohol and Substance Abuse Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the content of what I share during the Fredonia CARES program be shared with my Resident Director, Judicial Affairs, Student Affairs, the court, or my parents?

No. Your responses and the content of your participation are part of your protected personal health information. Your completion or failure to complete the entire Fredonia CARES process is the only information released to Student Affairs. If you choose to have information provided to a referral source, your parents, or anyone else, you must sign a consent for release of specific information (contact the Counseling Center for the form).

Will the referral to Fredonia CARES go on my academic transcript?

No. Counseling Center services are not a part of your SUNY Fredonia academic transcript. Information about your participation can be released only with your signed consent. However, if you fail to complete a referral to Fredonia CARES, Student Affairs has the option of putting a hold on your registration.

Once I finish Fredonia CARES, am I done with required activity?

Yes. However, Fredonia CARES facilitators may recommend attendance at additional individual or group sessions at the SUNY Fredonia Counseling Center or at an off-campus treatment facility.

What do SUNY Fredonia students say about Fredonia CARES?

"It helped me realize I don't need alcohol to have a good time." (Female, age 21)

"It helped me to really look at the consequences of getting a 3rd strike and made me realize I can still change some of my habits and reduce my risk substantially." (Male, age 19)

"It got me to see that although I am no addict, every once in a while I definitely abuse alcohol and I want to stop that." (Female, age 19)

"It gave me a different insight about my habits. I view my habits in a way I've never done before." (Male, age 20)

"I realized that I did have a problem and how to keep it under control. And it was nice to know I wasn't in this on my own - people had similar problems." (Female, age 20)

"I was able to step back and see what exactly I was doing with drugs and alcohol. Being able to see my faults gives me an opportunity to change them." (Male, age 21)

"Thank you for this workshop. I feel like it really helped me realize where I'm at and that I do need to make changes. Not only to keep out of trouble but just so I don't become something I don't want to be." (Female, age 18)

On-line Alcohol Assessment

What is the e-CHUG?

The e-CHUG (electronic Check-Up to Go) is an interactive web survey that allows college and university students to enter information about their drinking patterns and receive feedback about their use of alcohol. The assessment takes about 6-7 minutes to complete, is self-guided, and requires no face-to-face contact time with a counselor or administrator.

What does it do?

When you access the e-CHUG, you are prompted to enter information about yourself. In addition to demographic information, it will ask you to enter information about your drinking habits, family history, and to complete the World Health Organization's AUDIT.

After all information has been entered, you submit the form anonymously. The information you entered is then validated and processed. The e-CHUG calculates a number of variables and compares your responses to national and local college norms. Then, your personalized feedback is displayed in an easy-to-read format.

Additional Support Services

The Counseling Center provides a number of support services for those students dealing with alcohol and other substance abuse issues. For more information on any of these services please contact the Counseling Center.

Just the Facts

Just the Facts is a media campaign about alcohol consumption being conducted by SUNY Fredonia. Many college students believe that heavy, high-risk drinking is the norm because this type of drinking is very visible and gets a lot of attention. However, the majority of students at SUNY Fredonia drink moderately or not at all and make healthy choices about drinking. The goal of this campaign is to provide you, the students, with accurate information about student drinking on campus so that you can make decisions about your own behaviors based on the facts. How do we know the information is accurate? A Survey of College Alcohol Norms and Behavior was conducted by the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and administered to all different types of undergraduates who uniformly represent students from the SUNY Fredonia community!

This anonymous survey was mailed to randomly selected SUNY Fredonia students during the Spring 2003 semester. The participants completed the survey in private to ensure they would report honestly about their drinking behaviors. Research has shown that people responding to anonymous surveys tend to tell the truth about their behaviors, regardless of how much or how little they drink.

Social Norms Theory states that our behavior is influenced by incorrect perceptions of how other members of our social groups think and act. By educating students about the facts on actual drinking behavior, they can better judge their own practices and adopt accurate perceptions about others' drinking behavior.