Students Can Never Catch a Break: Reason Behind Maryland Schools’ Ineligibility for Fall Breaks

One question students frequently ask during the fall semester is “when will we ever get a break?” Some universities have students, faculty, and staff go 70 or 80 days before they are given some sort of substantial break for Thanksgiving. While many students, faculty, and staff in Maryland schools specifically wonder why is it that the only “break” given in the fall is Thanksgiving break, there are some underlying stipulations hindering any move to include an additional one or two days of break when Thanksgiving break already exists. The days to give students, faculty, and staff off are already spent to go home for Thanksgiving; however, due to high academic demands and high levels of stress for students in the fall, many still wonder why there could not be more days to give students some more time to recuperate from a tough semester.

A “dead” FSU campus when students go home for break to recuperate. Photo Credit: Sam Metz

The biggest reason why Maryland schools such as Frostburg State University, Towson University, University of Maryland College Park, and Salisbury University (to name a few) do not have the privilege of receiving a fall break in addition to Thanksgiving break is because each of these universities fall under the University System of Maryland. USM is a group of public institutions in the state of Maryland that work under the guidelines and procedures of the University System of Maryland’s standards. The universities under the USM umbrella do not get to call all of the shots when they create their academic calendar; each university will create their respective calendars based on some constraints designated by the USM.

Picture of the locations of each USM university to show the geographical placement of each school and the total number of schools in the system. Photo taken from the USM website. 

Some constraints for the fall include fall start date and spring commencement be within 9-months, each semester include 43 MWF classes and 29 TR classes, and having at least two class days off for Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday). A full calendar of all USM academic calendar constraints can be found on the USM website. 

Based on the current USM regulations, no University System of Maryland schools have a designated “fall” break.

Administration in various Maryland schools are the individuals receiving first hand communication with USM and are obligated to abide by all standards. If any administration would want to try to give an additional break in the fall, they would have to contact the administration for USM and hope that they could allow an additional break, but that may be difficult due to the constraints.

Dr. Tom Bowling is the current interim president at Frostburg State University. In his 39 years working with FSU, he has never once seen the school have a fall break, and just recently the university also allowed students, faculty, and staff the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off as well.

“We go a long time in the first semester without a break,” says Bowling.

He shared more about Frostburg’s history of being in various school systems. Before USM was created in 1988, FSU was previously a part of the Board of Trustees of State Colleges and Universities. Being under USM now, Frostburg has to abide by the common calendar created by USM.

When asked about whether he thought FSU should have a fall break, Bowling commented that he has “mixed feelings.” He sees the value in having a fall break, but there are some costs such as having to maybe return to school earlier and sacrificing a precious week of summer vacation.

Other USM school administrators commented on the concept of fall breaks. Chuck Wilson works at the University of Maryland College Park as the Associate Vice President for Records, Registration, and extended studies, and he has his own opinions about fall break. When asked if he thought his institution should have a fall break, he simply said “no.” He did suggest maybe the idea of extending Thanksgiving break to include the Monday and Tuesday before that Wednesday students already get off, but again he notes that it is difficult to do that due to the USM instructional calendar requirements.

Deb Moriarty is the Vice President of Student Affairs at Towson University, and she has also never seen Towson have a fall break in the 12 years she has worked there. She too understands the USM calendar constraints and how hard it could be to try to submit a proposal for approval of a fall break.

Moriarty knows the procedures USM created are difficult to get around, but she still comments: “I can see how tired and stressed the students are right now.”

Not only are schools in the University System of Maryland not receiving fall breaks, but some community colleges in Maryland also choose to not give students an additional two-day fall break. Community colleges create their own academic calendar and determine whether or not it is in their best interest to include a fall break.

Mr. Brad Stewart is the Vice President and Provost of Montgomery Community College, and in a phone interview he jokes that his community college does partake in a fall break.

“We do, it’s called Thanksgiving break. [chuckles]”

He believes that there is no time to give students a fall break, and while he does think it could help students relieve stress, he also feels that it sacrifices the time teachers want to have in the classroom.

“I know teachers want as much class time as possible,” chuckles Stewart. He also mentions that Montgomery college has teachers reach a certain amount of teaching hours during each semester that teachers are afraid to lose.

Mike Martin works at Hagerstown Community College as the Director of Academic Advisement, and he feels that time is the biggest reason why many schools never have the opportunity to have a break in the fall. He is also aware of the teachers at his institution and how precious the time they have with students is.

“I know teachers do not want to lose any more classroom time,” says Martin.  

One professor that does not share the traditional “no break “mentality is Professor Duncan from the Frostburg State University English Department.  Although Mr. Duncan recognizes that having a designated fall break would have some logistical difficulties, he still said “I’m all for breaks. Sure, why not” to having a fall break.  Mr. Duncan further supports the implementation of a fall break by stating that the break “wouldn’t eliminate stress, but it will help”.  Fundamentally Mr. Duncan’s responses seem to mean that from a teachers perspective breaks could be highly beneficial for the students and that if scheduled properly it could become something supported by more teachers as well.

Some Maryland schools choose to not be a part of a university school system. St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Morgan State University are two Maryland schools not a part of any system. Since these schools have no system to respond to, they can make any decisions for their calendars and can include fall breaks if they choose to.

Joanne Goldwater is the Associate Dean of students and Director of Residence Life at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and this institution gives students, faculty, and staff a fall break that they call “fall reading days.”

“We do not have classes on Columbus Day (Monday) and Tuesday. It comes around our mid-terms, so reading days were implemented to give students time to prepare for their exams,” says Goldwater.

Goldwater also comments that the “reading days” are a great “stress-buster” for students at her institution. St. Mary’s has included these reading days in the late 90s, so students have been given an extra break at this school for the past couple years. When asked why other schools do not have fall breaks, Goldwater responds, “I think it is something that each institution needs to decide for themselves.”

Allegany County Community college has also adjusted their fall semester calendar to give students a small fall break. ACC’s Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Shauna McQuade, discussed how the community college just recently included a fall break into the academic calendar.

“We started adjusting our fall semester calendar to include a fall break in 2007,” says McQuade.

The community college did not have a university system to request permission for a fall break from, but McQuade mentioned how a Calendar Committee had to be sent a request in order for the discussion of including a break could begin. She said that it was the faculty that wanted to see a fall break enacted in order to allow students “a few days to regroup.”

Table outlining start/end dates, possible fall breaks, and Thanksgiving breaks of USM schools and neighboring universities. Credit Joel Russ.

Some universities in Maryland, and even some universities in neighboring states, do or do not have the full discretion of determining whether their institution can have a fall break or not. Either way, the individuals getting the greatest impact of the decisions about fall break are the students. Students are getting more and more stressed during their fall semesters and would love to have an extra few days to recuperate when the time of the school year is at its most difficult. Students at some schools get the luxury of having an extra two days off for a break, and for the most part those extra two days off helps leads them to a successful ending to their semester. 

“Having an extra two days off did help diminish my stress,” says Kelly Stake, Biology major at West Virginia University. Stake, who is also majoring in Psychology, felt like she was sleep deprived, and a 2-day fall break was a nice way to recollect her self.

Many schools like Hagerstown Community College, Radford University, Potomac State College, Slippery Rock University and Mount St. Mary’s all give their students time off during the fall.

For many students at these colleges the breaks enables them to relief stress and regroup for the second half of the semester.

Rachel Drury, a Radford University grad, felt like having a fall break allowed her to decompress and prepare for the "mid-semester slump" that many students face during the first semester.

“The break allowed me to be able to catch up on anything that I was falling behind on and plan ahead to try and gain momentum when I came back for the second half of the semester.”

In her time at Radford University, Drury was able to experience not having and eventually having a fall break. “Being able to go from no fall break to having a fall break definitely helped mentally, emotionally and physically.” 

Alexis Lockley, a general studies student at Hagerstown Community College felt like the break gave her the opportunity to be with her loved ones. “Fall break from HCC gives me a short but needed break from school and it gives me time to relax with family and friends.”

Kelly Stake from West Virginia University felt like the break interrupted her studies, but in her own words, “that’s really just me."

Unlike Kelly Stake, many who had a fall break found it extremely beneficial like Rachel Drury from Redford.

“Having the break was beneficial. It was something everyone looked forward to, even professors. Midterms aren’t a huge deal at Redford so it didn’t interrupt studies, and then when you came back you had a week until midterms.”

Erin McGuireà, a current student at Mount St. Mary’s College, said “Having a fall break was beneficial because it allowed time for rest, potential vacation, and time with family and friends.”

                                                                                                                      

McGuireà also felt like the break had a positive impact on her performance in the classroom. “I would say that fall break positively impacted my performance in the classroom because if I knew fall break was coming up, I would try to perform in the class to end well."

Bethany Biser, social work student at Potomac State College also found the break beneficial.

“Having a fall break benefitted me because it gave me a little breather in the middle of the semester. Our midterms were posted that Monday (the 12^th) of the fall break so it gave us a little relief that midterms were over.”

“I totally found the break beneficial,” says Biser.

Kimberly Clark from Slippery Rock University disagreed with Stake, Drury, McGuireà and Biser. She found her self on the fence saying “It didn’t really interrupt my studies but I didn’t find it very beneficial because the professor gives you so much work to do that you can't really go through the very short break without stressing about the large amount of work that you have to get done.”

While Clark may not be sure of how beneficial fall break is, many students at other colleges without fall breaks are advocating for their school to install one. 

Implementing fall breaks has been an age-long discussion that will continue to happen as long as students are getting more and more stressed (visit this article for more about college student stress) during the fall. The stress placed on students is an issue affecting all students regardless where their university is or what system of schools they are a part of. Ultimately when schools are a part of a bigger system, obtaining a fall break will remain slim because the decision will never be up to the individual schools. 

Stressing Out About Stress

Stress cartoon showing alternative methods for dealing with stress. Permission given by artist.

Other than stress there are very few ailments that are universal and unbiased of gender, age, or race. Because of its non-exclusively in who is affected by it, stress has become a leading concern. There are a variety of factors that can cause stress. Stress is also unique because it is a subjective. What one person may find stressful another may not share that same opinion. In other words, “stress is more than a response to environmental demands, but is also related to personal perceptions (Folkman, 2006). Although everyone is subject to experience stress, college students are one demographic that experience stress the most.

In the article, "The Impact of Stress on Academic Success in College Students," expert Selye defines stress as “a nonspecific response of the body to any demands made upon it” (2006). Primitively, stress is recognized in the body as a defense mechanism for when the body perceives it is in danger, it triggers the “fight or flight” reaction. The article, "Stress: Your Brain and Body" explains that when the brain senses a stressful situation it sends signals down the spinal cord to the adrenal glands which release the hormone adrenaline. The brain also sends signals to the hypothalamus which responds by stimulating the adrenal cortex, thereby releasing the stress hormone known as cortisol (2015). When stimulated by stress, the body is influenced cognitively, emotional, physically, and behaviorally. Some of the most common effects of stress include moodiness, feeling of being overwhelmed, memory problems, anxiety, headaches, loss of hunger, or increased hunger, and loss of sleep.

Some of the most common stress causing factors, specifically for college students, are relationships between significant others, relationships with roommates, change in environment (from parents home to college home), and most importantly from school work load. As a college student, the most motivational and controlling influences are deadlines. Students are under constant pressure to study for exams, turn in assignments on time, and get involved in extracurricular activities, all while still trying to experience the social aspect of college. As a result, students often have to pull “all-nighters” and sacrifice valuable hours of sleep just so they can accomplish everything they need. While that may be a temporary solution, stress is a vicious cycle. If the student stays awake all night to finish their assignment, they lose the stress of their homework, but then begin stressing about their lack of sleep. Often when students are stressed out to their capacity they become known as being “burnout." This term refers to the “emotional exhaustion which sometimes leads to ineffective professional behavior. . .  (Hall, 2006)”. When students take on too many responsibilities at once or procrastinate, especially during midterm or finals week, it can lead to them becoming burnout. Once a student has reached this point completing assignments becomes twice as difficult.

Although stress is virtually unavoidable, it is manageable. There are numerous recommendations for how to best deal with stress, but those too are subjective to the individual student. Time management is one of the most effective precautions to help avoid stress or to manage it. Taking a fifteen minute break doing something enjoyable or relaxing can make a detrimental difference in a student’s stress level.  So college students don’t stress out about stress, the key thing to remember is not to let stress keep you from achieving academic success. 

How To: Graduate On Time

How To: Graduate On Time

By: By: Kelley Waidley, Wesley Miller, Franchesca Garland, and Catherine McCartney

  

It is acknowledged that every college student is on their own personal journey. If their desire is to graduate in the expected four years, the individual will show true self-determination to complete the task. Craig Reiner, senior in Engineering and Physics from Glen Burnie, MD, said that he “talk to everybody in the department. Talk to every student that’s going through it.”

Katie Cropp and Craig Reiner, Photo Credit: Derek Russell

During this interview, Reiner also added some words of advice to fellow freshman of Frostburg State University. “Stay on top of what is happening in your department. Plan it all out from the beginning.”

It is clear that organization and planning are two skills a student must apply to graduate on time. Both skills play a massive role. Here at Frostburg State University, staff and faculty created an 8-semester plan, which can be found on PAWS. This tool is introduced in Freshman Orientation classes and serves as a template. There are templates for all majors at Frostburg State University and each map out suggested courses to take each semester.

Katie Cropp, senior in Psychology from Hancock, MD states, “It’s all about scheduling and knowing when classes are offered. If it’s only offered once a year, you need to know that and fit it in when you can. And as early as you can. For Psych majors, I would say take an internship. I wasn’t able to take one, but it’s a nice opportunity that this department gets that others don’t”.

The understanding of the course catalog and the relationship are relevant in relation to graduating on time. However, it is to be understood that the student must show self motivation as well.  

Tips for graduating on time:

·         Know the catalog.

All information about course requirements for every major, minor, certificate program, preparatory program, and general education program is in the catalog. If a student has lost or misplaced this copy, extras are found in the Registrar's office located in Pullen Hall. Conveniently, all catalogs can be found online as well.

·         Make an effort to get to know your advisor.

Advisors are put through intense workshops to acknowledge diversity and develop personal relations with their advisees. They are great resources and are there for you. It is important to meet with him/her regularly to discuss progress in your program(s). Questions are expected, so please feel free to ask your advisor of any questions that may arise during the semester.

·“Plan it all out from the beginning,” says Craig Reiner

It is important to note when specific courses will be offered. For example, some classes are only offered fall of even-numbered years.  A student can run into these issues if they did not foresee this in their schedule.

·         Double-dip.

Programs often have overlapping requirements.  You will save yourself time by taking GEP classes that are also required by your major/minor, and vice versa.

·         Register as early as possible.

All students here at Frostburg State University have a time and date that they are assigned to register for classes. Before the student can register, they must see their advisor to get “activated”, prior to their registration time. Once the student is activated, they are able to enroll. However, it is important that the student is at a computer in order to register into all desired classes. Classes are not promised and have the ability to close at a any given time.

·         Be realistic about your time frame.

Number of credit hours required by each major varies greatly.  Some majors have 30-40 credit hours while others have upwards of 100.  Some programs are designed for double-majors, while others would be very difficult to combine with other programs.  Consider how realistic your choices are with regard to your major(s) or minor(s).

·         Don’t be afraid to seek out a new advisor.

If you have experienced some complications in communicating with your advisor, do not be afraid to request another advisor in your department.

Frostburg State University 2015 Spring Commencement, Photo Credit: Frostburg State University

Graduation: An Involved Process

Graduation: An Involved Process

By: Kelley Waidley, Wesley Miller, Franchesca Garland, and Catherine McCartney

Jacob McDonalds, Class of 2015, and Dr. Jonathan Gibralter at Spring 2015 Commencement. Photo Credit, Frostburg State University

Graduating in the traditional four-year time span is not always a given; many students have to fight to graduate on time. Between uncommunicative advisers and complex majors, sometimes getting it all done feels like an uphill battle.

Craig Reiner, a senior Engineering and Physics double major from Glen Burnie, MD, will be graduating in four years, but is agrees that sometimes there can be issues.  “We have to take all the 200-level classes before we can move on to the 300-level classes and by the time you get to the 400-level classes you’re a senior and don’t have time to take all of the electives that they want you to take.”  

To make it more complicated, Reiner’s advisor has been no help with planning out his schedule.

 “I have had to plan out my four years since orientation freshman year. My advisor doesn’t meet with me, he just unlocks me because I plan it ahead of time. I have waited outside his office for an hour and half just to talk to him”.

Reiner says the Physics department as a whole has been an obstacle for graduating on time.

“We have to tell our department when classes need to be offered because they overlook it at times.  They just wait for the conflicts to come up, and us to find better times for the class.” He comments that balancing two majors and all GEP requirements has been a struggle. “I have four GEPS that I need to take left. So I’m taking one over the winter and three in the spring, on top of two capstones and another engineering class. Every semester I have been at 17 credits. I’ve only had to overload once, but I’ve always been at the limit.”

As the following graph demonstrates, a surprisingly low percentage of students graduate in four years within the University System of Maryland.  Graduation time seems to be a problem across the board.

It’s not unusual for students to choose to stay extra semesters to make the college experience easier. Katie Cropp, a senior Psychology major from Hancock, Maryland, decided that it was better for her to stay an extra semester than it would be to overload courses for multiple semesters just to graduate in four years. “Me personally, I crack under pressure sometimes. If I put too much stress on myself, I know it’s not going to end well.”

Another factor that helped her decide to stay an extra semester was her intent to take her Capstone over the summer, but it was cancelled due to under-enrollment. Which means her intent on taking her scholastic endeavors slowly worked against her, causing her to have to take a Capstone in the Fall that did not apply to her major focus.

“This was the only capstone offered this semester, infant development. I want to be a school counselor and I’m not going to be counseling babies. It’s interesting, but it’s not at all useful.”

While setbacks like this are not exceptionally common, it’s just one of many examples that complicates the schedules of students trying to graduate in four years.  

The relationship between a student and advisor can certainly hinder or aid with graduation time. Frostburg State University has created the Academic Advising Council whose purpose, according to their mission statement, is to “ensure communication of institutional policies, monitor and recommend revisions to the academic advising delivery system, implement institutional and individual evaluation of the quality of academic advising, assist in mechanisms to insure high quality academic advising and support the development and use of information systems to enhance academic advising.” The council’s membership includes faculty, administrators, and student representatives to allow for discussions from various departments of the institution. All members meet on the second Wednesday of every month. In short, they work to address issues that come up within the school between students and advising.

The council has created Academic Advising Workshops which are offered at the beginning of every semester where, according to the August 2015 agenda, they had presenters on FERPA, academic standards and strategies for advising students on probation, helpful advising tools on PAWS, and experiential learning opportunities.

Dr. Terri Massie Burrell, current Chair of the Academic Advising Council, commented “Occasionally, all of us [as advisors] may fall short but we have the students’ best interest at heart.Students have to be proactive and develop a relationship with us. When picking a major, I try to make sure the student considers where their passions lie. They must be aware of the obstacles when selecting a major. Is it worth it? Because this is a lifetime commitment.”

Fortunately, many departments try to encourage active communication between advisors and students. Sometimes students don’t always pick classes in their best interest for their degree, or don’t have a clear understanding of the General Education Program requirements. Some department advisors insist on meeting with students face to face, particularly if it is a student’s first semester.

Dr. Amy Branam Armiento, chair of the Department of English and Foreign Languages (and also Coordinator of African Studies) is currently advising ten students this semester. She describes the relationship she has with her advisees as “A little intrusive”, with a gentle emphasis on little.

“I try to empower them,” she says. “Any time we are talking about courses, I want to make sure they understand why I’m suggesting something. And if they suggest something, I’m asking myself why they are taking it. If it doesn’t make sense, I’ll ask them – I’m making sure they’re aware of the GEP, and the page before the GEP... as well as what’s in the Major Catalog. Of course we have a lot of fantastic electives [at Frostburg], but I want to make sure they understand what they need to graduate.”

The last year of Academia, according to Dr. Armiento, often results a “phenomenon” for many students, leading to the affectionately coined term “super-senior” – those who end up spending a year or more as “senior status”.

“Some students, when they get to the end of their [college] career, it’s like they’re afraid of graduating. They won’t select what they need [to finish]. On the last semester when they are expected to graduate, I will find them and audit them to make sure they have what they need,” she adds with a devious yet comforting smile.

Of course, there are factors outside of class selection and inattentive advisors that can contribute to a delayed graduation. Some students may experience a traumatic event or other unforeseen issues. Relatives may die, complication from mental illness may arise, someone may be involved in a sexual assault – many things are possible. One of the biggest factors that plagues most students on a good day is money. Putting aside school loans, college is a constant investment that some students just can’t maintain.

Spring 2015 Commencement, Photo Credit Frostburg State University

“Either [students] can’t get work here, so they’re trying to work at home, or they are working, but also supporting family members. Even though it seems like a little bit of money to cover [the costs of living and books], it’s not a small amount – especially when you have no money to start with.” Dr. Armiento explains. “We [as teachers] can teach anyone who shows up. Students might not get A’s all the time, but they want to be here – especially Junior’s and Senior’s. And it’s heart breaking as a professor to see a first generation student, who is smart enough and [doing] the American dream, and they get hit by life, [and] they just have no more money to continue attending.”

Graduating in four years is usually possible, but students must make the effort and strive to use all resources available to them. Being aware of the requirements for graduation as well as knowing the people and challenges in one’s major and department are crucial to graduating in a timely manner. Sometimes classes just don’t have the enrollment or can’t be scheduled in a graceful manner that works for everyone. Many challenges may occur during a student's academic career. But students should know there is always a resource available for them to use, if only they are willing to ask.

Marijuana's Contribution to a Decrease in Binge Drinking

In the past five years, rates of drinking at Frostburg State University have dropped significantly. Dr. Jonathan Gibralter, who recently departed his position as President of FSU to assume presidency at Wells College, has been attributed locally and nationally as a martyr for decreasing binge drinking rates within the campus community. However, there are greater questions regarding the approximate 10% drop in drinking, including the growing use of marijuana by college students. 

Monitoring the Future, an ongoing study released by the University of Michigan, compares use of all drugs, from alcohol and marijuana to ecstasy or cocaine, from the 1980s to their most recently released study in 2014. The research indicates that “among college students, annual prevalence was 34% in 2014, up from 30% in 2006.” Overall, marijuana use has risen from 3.5% in 2007 to 5.9% in 2014.

The statistics reflect, in part, the push from college students to legalize marijuana. The Pew Research Center released a 2015 study indicating that 68% of the Millennial generation support the legalization of marijuana. More of the college aged generation are beginning to use marijuana.

Don Swogger, SAFE Office director and advisor for the BURG Peer Education Network at FSU, feels as though the rise in marijuana use will ultimately cause binge drinking rates to rise again.

“We knew before we administered the CORE data survey that marijuana rates were going up,” Swogger says, “they did indeed go up by 10%...I think that if we don't get a handle on the marijuana use rates, we'll see some more significant hikes in that, and I think that ultimately it will impede upon the binge drinking rate again. So that's projection, and I'm hopeful that we can kinda do something across the state to not have another big jump the next time that we do CORE data.” Swogger attributes the increase of marijuana use to the recent decriminalization of marijuana in Maryland.

But research shows that as alcohol use goes down, marijuana use rises. Pew Research indicates that 69% of Americans find alcohol more dangerous and harmful than marijuana. At Frostburg State University, ex-President Dr. Jonathan Gibralter spent his term becoming a nationally recognized leader for decreasing binge drinking in college students. 

Gibralter spent years studying and preaching about the negatives of alcohol use, but marijuana never entered the dialogue. The efforts put in to curb the amount of alcohol obtained by becomes more difficult for underage students to get ahold of, marijuana seems to be easier to obtain. 

Without taking a handle on the growing use of marijuana in college students, there could be an effect on alcohol. Alex Good of the University of Notre Dame, conducted a study in conjunction with Dr. William Evans of the Department of Economics regarding ties between marijuana and alcohol.

“The most obvious effects of legalization would be increased consumption and availability of marijuana along with higher state tax revenues, but there could be other unintended consequences,” Evans writes. These consequences include the decrease in alcohol consumption in minors, due to the more readily available marijuana.

By Katie O'Neill, with contributions from Taylor Whiteman

An Analysis of High-Risk Drinking at FSU

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stopalcoholdeaths/5525241334

Shot after shot, beer from the keg, countless cups of jungle juice, a sip from someone’s flask, and repeat until the night comes to an end. Binge drinking. While the formula and alcohol of choice may not be the same for every student, the impacts are similar.

Drinking is common in college. By no means is it expected that students never touch a drink in their four years of what seems like endless presentations, exams, group projects, labs, and homework assignments. However, binge drinking, also referred to as high-risk drinking should not be as common.

Prior to attempts made by Dr. Jonathan Gibralter, Frostburg State University’s former president, to drive down the extreme binge drinking rates on campus, high-risk drinking dominated student’s weekends.

Living up to its title as a party school, weekends for Frostburg students started on Thursday nights as opposed to Fridays. With no class the next morning, students had an extra night to party and partake in binge drinking, further contributing to the school’s ill-reputation.

Dedicated to building a better Frostburg, Gibralter implemented several new methods to decrease binge drinking and improve the quality of the campus and community.

“Dr. Gibralter was really, really engaged,” stated Lieutenant Scott Donahue of Frostburg State University Police. Alcohol programs and enforcing drinking laws are common duties of police departments, but Lt. Donahue noted that the level of support the FSU campus police department has received is not always so common on other campuses. Wanting to keep students safe when they are away from their parents, Lt. Donahue was pleased that campus officials and campus police could come together, keeping students out of harm’s way.

One of the first steps: more Friday classes. Though this would not stop parties and drinking throughout the weekend, it would hopefully discourage students from starting as early as Thursday night.

Friday courses steering students away from partying and binge drinking on Thursday nights is evident from the shockingly low 10-30 calls Safe Ride, a free van service operating Thursday-Saturday from 10pm-2am for students, receives compared to their jam packed Friday and Saturday nights. James Mattocks, former Safe Ride driver of two years, stated that on Thursdays people often just take advantage of the free ride, wanting rides to places like Seven-Eleven. The reasoning for this? “People have class,” he states, “if they go out, they’re going to walk.”

University vans used for Safe Ride parked at the campus police station. Photo credit: Taylor Whiteman

Consequences, consequences, consequences. Another measure implemented by Gibralter was students who were arrested or cited due to activities relating to or involving high risk drinking were also to be disciplined by the university, and the incident was to be reported to their parents. There was no escaping punishment.

When students are cited, a judicial board referral is sent to Student Educational Services, and a notification remains on the students PAWS account for the duration of their time as a student at FSU. Guilty parties must appear in court, paying a $100 fine and $40 in court fees. If that student should find themselves back in the same unfortunate situation, those fees double each time. While this is categorized as a civil violation, skipping a court date for an alcohol citation allows the judge to put a bench warrant out for that student’s arrest, upgrading their civil violation to a criminal one.

The FSU Policy Statement Booklet states the sanctions for offenses to alcohol restrictions at FSU:

First Offense: Required completion of an online alcohol assessment and education program, a $25.00 Substance Abuse Prevention fine and a $75.00 Judicial Programs fine. Student's parent(s) or guardian, if under the age of 21, will be notified by mail of the violation.

Second Offense: Required completion of an online alcohol assessment and education program, and referral for a brief alcohol screening intervention referral for a brief alcohol screening intervention, as well as a $75.00 Substance Abuse Prevention fine and a $75.00 Judicial Programs fine will be assigned. In addition, there will be one calendar year of disciplinary probation. Student's parent(s)/guardian, if under the age of 21, will be notified by mail of the violation.

Third Offense: A third violation may result in housing contract cancellation and removal from University housing, or suspension from the University. Student's parent(s)/guardian will be notified by mail of the violation.

According to the Frostburg Community Coalition, a website that draws out the alliance between campus officials, community leaders, and university police’s efforts to reduce underage drinking in the community, many accomplishments have been made since the formation in December 2011. In just two years, noise citations had decreased by 20% and alcohol citations had increased by 50%. This was also due to Gibralter’s initiative to have campus police to patrol off campus neighborhoods.

Dating back to late August, Lt. Donahue reported there only being 14 citations for underage alcohol possession and 24 open container violations for the Fall 2015 semester. He noted that these numbers are rather average, but can be higher at times. However these numbers are remarkably different from when he began his career here in 1991. Though the University Police’s jurisdiction was only on campus at the time, Lt. Donahue noted that there seemed to be a lot more alcohol violations.

On campus efforts to tackle the binge drinking related issues, FSU’s Wellness Director April Baer referenced resources such as BURG Peer Education Network, Student Health Advisory Council, and the Alcohol Task Force. Carrying out Gibralter’s plans, these groups work to form “policies and practices to deter high-risk behavior through offering late-night programming and educational prevention campaigns,” said Baer.

Though late-night events are anticipated to sway students to not drink, many still do. Mattocks mentioned that during his time as a Safe Ride driver, there has been no difference with how drunk students tend to get, and that it often time depends on the on-campus events being held. He’s noticed that students often throw parties before or after on-campus events, and mentioned that as long as Safe Ride is running that night (sometimes does not operate due to the weather), then students still go out and drink.

As of 2012, the Frostburg Community Coalition has noted that the 30-block area adjacent to the campus is dominated by the student body, with 82% of the properties being rented by Frostburg’s very own.

“Typically, students who are consuming alcohol at higher risk are doing so at house parties hosted by individuals asking attendees to pay to be admitted to an “all you can drink” event with jungle juice being served,” stated Baer. Not only does she mention the safety hazard created by hosting such parties, but also the harm inflicted upon the community whether it be through noise complaints or physical damage.

Photo credit: Katie O'Neill

Off campus living is just one of the many reasons for the formation of the Frostburg Community Coalition. Baer noted that the coalition works with campus and city leaders to provide increased police patrol during high-risk times of the year, and to inform off-campus students about responsible communal living amongst numerous other duties.

Events such as Halloween, Shamrock Shuffle, and homecoming can call be considered high-risk times of the year. Celebrating 25 years at campus police this past September, Lt. Donahue claims this past homecoming to be the best one. “No one got hurt, no one got killed, “people had a great time,” “good game,” “uneventful,” “noise complaints, but nothing serious,” was how he described the weekend that most students highly anticipate. Though the campus and off campus neighborhoods were heavily patrolled, not much enforcement was required.

With increased police patrol in the community, knock and talks were implemented. The well known term around campus refers to officers stopping by off campus properties and talking to the residence. Lt. Donahue stated, “We’ll do what we have to do don’t get me wrong,” but that the point of the drop-ins is not to see how many citations they can write, but to let the students know they are there. Though he knows it will not eradicate binge drinking, the goal is for the influx of officers to discourage high-risk behavior.

With a similar goal as the Coalition of simply wanting to educate students to drink responsibly without risk to the community or themselves is Reality Check, a student designed program that recognizes underage drinkng and provides tips to ensure the saftey of students while still having a good time.

To define binge drinking, the site gives students a breakdown based on gender. For the typical male as more than one or two drinks in an hour, or more than four or five for the night and more than one drink per hour for females, or exceeding three or four drinks in one night. The site goes further into detail with high-risk drinking and its relation to high-risk decision making, and knowing learning to know when you have had enough.

While Reality Check is a source for tips, it aligned with Gibralter wanting to implement a mandatory online alcohol course for students to get a handle on binge drinking. For this, AlcoholEDU was implemented.

Dr. Jesse Ketterman, the Dean of Students at Frostburg State University, knows that students drink. He also knows that no matter what the school does to intervene, it is up to the students to not binge drink or drink underage.

“It is really a student’s decision regarding further trouble.  We provide educational sanctions that focus on good decision making,” Ketterman says.

"It is really a student's decision regarding further trouble. We provide educational sanctions that focus on good decision making," Ketterman says.

These educational sanctions consist of judiciary hearings, $75 fines for underage drinkers, and the required completion of AlcoholEDU.

“Our office tracks completion of the program and notifies students that do not complete the program regarding the requirement,” noted Don Swogger, SAFE Office director and BURG Peer Education Network advisor here at FSU. The course is required of all incoming students with 30 or less credits, and completion of the course is to be taken seriously.

While a username and password given from a student’s institution is needed to partake in the course which consists of surveys, readings, quizzes, and short videos to promote alcohol awareness, the EverFi website where AlcoholEDU is offered provides information on adressing alcohol abuse, the dangers of high-risk drinking, and even information on sexual assualt which can often be related with high-risk drinking.

When FSU students  were randomly asked about their drinking habits, results varied. It was evident that how often students drank a week, how much they drank, and if their intentions were to get drunk or not ranged.

While some students really enjoy drinking, they choose to limit how much they actually do it for various reasons.

Art and design major Kayla Friedrich of La Plata, MD in her junior year answered these questions with: “I love Tequila,” “I drink once a week every week,” and “I don’t get drunk because I can’t afford to get drunk.”

Similarly, a student named Maya answered these questions with: “I love drinking,” “I drink once every two weeks. I have to balance it otherwise I’ll die,” “I’ve only been drunk once in my life on accident,” and “Drinking is not good for you.”

“I drink on the weekends: Friday and Saturday. Sometimes consecutively, sometimes not,”

“I binge it. It doesn’t take much for me” stated Dalton Ingram, physics major of Cumberland Maryland in his senior year. 

“I drink on the weekends: Friday and Saturday. Sometimes consecutively, sometimes not,”

“I binge it. It doesn’t take much for me” stated Dalton Ingram, physics major of Cumberland Maryland in his senior year.

While a portion of the campus moderately drinks and another consecutively drinks, the other portion refrains from drinking completely. Representing that portion is sophomore Kyle Myers of Chestertown, Maryland. The business administration major answered the questions with: “Zero! I don’t drink. School’s too important for me to get [involved in] that scene.”

Further illustrating the divide is what students choose to use Safe Ride for. Mattocks stated that while half use the free van service because they are too drunk and cold to make it home, the other half seem to make use of it because they live in “Edgewood and want to go to Seven-Eleven to get a ‘rello.” (Cigarello)

“If you can play music and make them laugh then you’re okay,” said Mattocks about chauffeuring drunken students from party to party on the weekends. Though he did not work every night during his time with Safe Ride, he noted that it was not uncommon for someone to vomit inside or outside the van once a week, and that there was always that one person “beyond gone.”

“At the end of the night, everyone’s quite drunk if they’re using Safe Ride,” concluded Mattocks.

 “At the end of the night, everyone’s quite drunk if they’re using Safe Ride,” concluded Mattocks.

Frostburg is a college town with 31 retail outlets or establishments with a license to sell or serve alcohol within city limits, according to 2012 data collected by the Frostburg Community Coalition. Students seemingly had an endless supply of alcohol. Gibralter’s solution? To team up with local bar employees.

The Frostburg Community Coalition formed a partnership known as the Cooperating Alcohol Agreement with 19 local businesses, including: Dante’s, The Draft, FBar, HiWay Pizza, Wild Things, and Zen Shi to name a few. Under this agreement, the Coalition provided free responsible beverage training, posters to promote low-risk drinking strategies, and ID scanners to help prevent underage drinking from occurring in bars.

“They don’t have to agree to that,” stated Lt. Donahue. However, he thinks it is great that they do. As far as he knows, there have been no violations of the agreement.

The Core Institute, a small department within the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Student Health Center, has the largest database covering alcohol and drug use at post-secondary educational institutions. Every three years, the federally funded service releases the Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) survey, a comprehensive and thorough assessment documenting how students perceive alcohol and other drugs, as well as how often they use alcohol and other drugs.

The 2015 Core AOD assessment, revealed that the schoolwork of 47% of students at FSU had been negatively affected by alcohol consumption.

In 2006, Core revealed that the drinking rate of Frostburg students weighed in at 54%. This figure decreased to 41% in 2012 according to the Frostburg Community Coalition. According to Swogger,  the drinking rate now stands at 42.9%, which is still below the national average of 43.9% despite its slight jump.

On a wider basis, college students who binge drink frequently are 21 times more likely to miss class, fall behind in schoolwork, get in trouble with the police and many other serious implications, according to the Alcohol Policies Project. The effect on schoolwork can happen directly, when the drinker faces the consequences of their actions, or indirectly, when the student drinker disrupts other students. Alcohol Policies Project also indicates that, nationwide, 71% of students have had their sleep or studies interrupted by an intoxicated peer.

Though Gibralter’s efforts have proven successful, there is still more to be done. Before his departure from the campus in the Spring of 2015, Baer noted the the Drug Free Communities Grant secured by the Community Coalition team. The federal grant of over one million dollars will aid the prevention and education initiatives of the campus community.



By Tiaju McCalup, with contributions from Katie O'Neill and Taylor Whiteman