The National Center for Responsible Gaming recently announced the formation of an advisory committee to guide the development of a new website to help colleges and universities address gambling and gambling problems among students. Scheduled to launch in 2011, collegegambling.org will provide a host of free, science-based resources to administrators, student health and life professionals, current and prospective college students and parents. The new website answers the call issued by the Task Force on College Gambling Policies to disseminate research-based harm reduction strategies and programs to U.S. colleges and universities. Because only about one-fifth of U.S. colleges and universities have a gambling policy, the task force identified the need to provide science-based, accessible resources to schools interested in addressing gambling on their campuses.
A distinguished group of educators, scientists and health professionals will serve on the advisory committee for collegegambling.org. Chaired by Dr. Patricia Ketcham, associate director of health promotion at Oregon State University, the advisory committee includes representatives from Columbia University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Harvard University, Boston University School of Public Health, McGill University, Monmouth University, the American College Health Association’s Mental Health Best Practices Task Force and the Alcohol and Other Drugs National Knowledge Community of NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The Advisory Committee held its first meeting this month to review preliminary plans for the website.
For a full list of Advisory Committee members, please see the press release on the NCRG website. More information on college gambling is available from the Task Force on College Gambling Policies page, including the full report available for download in PDF format. As always, we welcome your thoughts and questions in the comment section below.
