NDSU's Back on TRAC Program: Policy Recommendations

Abstract

Alcohol and other drug use by college students has been considered by college administrators to be problematic for many years, but strategies in place were not effective or were being under-utilized. Data taken from both the NDSU CORE Survey on Alcohol and Other Drug Use as well as the national CORE survey indicate that many students use alcohol as their drug of choice; 71 % of those surveyed reported using alcohol within the 30 days prior to survey administration. In 2006, North Dakota State University was selected as a pilot institution for the Back on TRAC program. Back on TRAC utilizes a holistic approach based on the drug court model and public health and combines this approach with rewards and sanctions for compliance with program requirements to provide treatment for substance abuse to college students. The program was implemented in 2008, and since then, 8 students have participated in Back on TRAC at NDSU. Based on the Back on TRAC program used at NDSU, three recommendations have been made to increase the provision of services to program participants. These recommendations were developed using information collected about the program currently in place at NDSU, as well as information collected about the Back on TRAC program at Colorado State University, Oklahoma State University, and Texas A&M.