N.S. universities get failing grade for managing campus alcohol use, researchers say

Universities in Nova Scotia are doing a poor job of managing alcohol consumption on their campuses, according to researchers.

Kara Thompson, an associate professor of psychology at St. Francis Xavier University, led a study into campus alcohol policies and released her findings this week.

Every school in the study scored below 50 per cent in an assessment of how well their alcohol policies measure up to best practices.

"Universities are not alcohol policy experts.... But they do have a moral responsibility to take care of the population that attends their institution," Thompson said in an interview.

The Nova Scotia schools included in the study are Acadia University, Cape Breton University, Dalhousie University, the University of King's College, Mount Saint Vincent University, Saint Mary's University and St. FX.

The study also looked at schools in other Atlantic provinces: the University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University, Mount Allison University, Memorial University and the University of Prince Edward Island. 

The average score across all 12 campuses was 33 per cent, with individual scores ranging from 15 per cent to 49 per cent.

The public report does not reveal each school's score.

Thompson said she and her collaborators chose to make the results anonymous because they did not want to pit the schools against each other. They want schools to collaborate on improving their approach to alcohol use.

But each school has, or will get, a report that will detail the results from their campus. Thompson said she'll give each school a presentation about their strengths and weaknesses. 

She said she's pleased with the reception so far.

"It is hard to accept bad news, but honestly I think [the schools] are grateful for the support and advice," she said. "They want to make change."

Thompson is an expert in substance use in young adults. She said they are the heaviest drinkers when compared to every other age group.

"They report a lot of alcohol-related harms from their drinking," she said. "And their drinking not only presents harms to themselves, but presents harms to other people as well, including the campus community and the wider community that they're members of."