WILLIAMSPORT - Pennsylvania College of Technology has been awarded a $17,500 Alcohol Education Grant to address underage and dangerous drinking by college students.
Penn College, one of 19 colleges and universities among this year's recipients, will use the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board funding for a number of prevention programs and law enforcement activities focused on illegal and reckless alcohol consumption, according to Carl L. Shaner, College Health Services director and grant coordinator.
Among the newer initiatives will be the development of a portable billboard for use in raising awareness across campus, he said.
A roving sign was obtained last spring to promote the Impaired Student Recovery Area - staffed by Emergency Medical Technicians who monitor students found to have ingested dangerous amounts of alcohol - and the importance of calling emergency personnel when a friend has had too much to drink.
Another billboard is in this year's program budget to tackle the conjoined problems of alcohol impairment and sexual assault, Shaner explained.
The grant also will fund a continuation of Student Success, which debuted in the Fall 2011 semester. The two video-based offerings - "Zombies, Alcohol and You: Alcohol Abuse Prevention" and "Unless There's Consent: Sexual Assault Prevention" - are mandatory for first-year students and are offered through the college's online Student Information System.
Shaner said the funding also will allow Penn College Police to conduct targeted patrols during peak times for student drinking, offset staff costs at the Impaired Student Recovery Area and help toward development of a peer-to-peer program in which students will be trained to deliver a responsible alcohol-awareness message to their classmates.
Since 1999, the PLCB has awarded more than $8 million in competitive grants to hundreds of community groups.
For more about Penn College, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.
