Choosing wisely

Penn State Altoona was awarded a three-year National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Choices Alcohol Education grant in the amount of $30,000. The grant has allowed the development of a freshmen seminar class designed for athletes, utilizing evidence-based strategies related to high-risk alcohol and other drug use.

The program will offer first-year athletes the opportunity to complete a course focused not only on the athletes' interests and lifestyle, but also on the choices that they will have to make each day regarding their overall well-being, academic pursuits, use of substances, and life planning. They will learn how alcohol and the choices that they make regarding its use affect not only academics, but all aspects of their life.

Facilitated by Alan Seretti, Penn State Altoona men's basketball coach, the purpose of the program is to empower students to achieve peak performance at an academic, personal, and professional level through the use of proven educational and alcohol prevention strategies that build upon the skills necessary for success as a student-athlete.

The effectiveness of the program will be measured through a pre-post test design, measuring knowledge related to perception of use, consequences of use, and the use of protective factors to reduce risk caused by alcohol. Student participants will be followed through their sophomore year at Penn State Altoona to measure long term programmatic impact.