Addressing Risky Behavior

Initiative to Address Risky Behavior on Spring Break

Framing the Issues:
Skim these articles to familiarize yourselves with the issues:
Read this article from the March 8th 2019 edition of the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/03/09/is-spring-break-safe-public-officials-warn-college-students-increased-danger-vacations-begin/

1. The Situation:

You are the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at CSUEB and one of your areas of responsibility is student well-being, which cuts across many units at the CSUEB. Several years in a row, you and your colleagues have noticed increased rates of sexually transmitted diseases as well as concerns from different departments about physical and emotional difficulties and challenges reported by students during Health Center and Counseling Center visits and from the various student affairs organizations that report to you.

Some students shared with their counselors, advisors, and medical providers that spring break is perceived as a perfect time for travelling to warm, sunny, beachy destinations (e.g., Cancun, Mexico, Miami Beach and Panama City Beach, Florida) where wild parties, binge drinking, drugs, and various forms of sexual risk-taking occurs. Similar to the famous saying about Las Vegas, there is a norm among spring breakers that ‘what happens on spring break stays on spring break’. This idea of being free of expectations and norms of everyday life (e.g., free from the CSUEB Student Code of Conduct, free from expectations of parents and other caring adults, and being free from everyday expectations and social norms of campus and adult life) can lead to some spring breakers to let loose, experiment, and engage in risky sexual activity, risky alcohol and drug taking, and other risky behavior (e.g., streaking, skinny dipping, midnight swims w/scary encounters sea life like sharks, eels, near drownings, passing out in public places where they can be robbed, mugged, or sexually assaulted, car surfing, etc.) they normally don’t engage in during “everyday life.”

All of these risky behaviors could have unintended serious consequences (e.g., physical injury, emotional and social harm, trauma, death, terror) that last longer than the trip does, and they could spill over to campus everyday life after the trip/experience is over. Some of the same issues have been raised regarding unintended consequences of Super Bowl tailgate.

2. Strategies to Promote Health, Safety and a Caring Community = “See Something-Say Something, Do Something”
   You and your colleagues want to develop an initiative on campus that boosts support for people who experience the unintended consequences of Spring Break and Super Bowl tailgate Shenanigans/Debauchery. Even witnessing an event (an accident that results in serious injury or death) can cause emotional problems including PTSD. You and your colleagues feel students can and should be armed with strategies to help each other see warning signs (to prevent issues, injury, trauma, sexual misconduct, crime) and they can learn strategies to help each other avoid the worst things from happening more effectively (even when under the influences of substances themselves). There is a proposal to develop a health promotion/education/self and community care initiative called “see something, say something, do something.” Before you begin discussing and building this initiative, you and your Task Force feel you need to get more information to better understand how much of an issue these “unintended consequences and issues are on campus” as a result of spring break and Super Bowl tailgate.
3. Stakeholders who comprise this Campus Task-Force
   You have gathered key staff from student affairs and health services for a brainstorming meeting. There is a collective sentiment that spring breakers and “tailgators” need more education and support to mitigate and help students develop self-management, prevention and coping strategies when confronting and dealing with any difficulties associated with spring break related incidents.

Invited to the meeting are Student Affairs representatives from the following campus organizations: 1) Health Services, 2) Counseling Services, 3) Campus Recreation Services, and other student affairs units that directly support student well-being such as:
a. Black Greek Council
b. Inter-Fraternity Council
c. Panhellenic Council
d. United Greek Council
e. Minority Student Affairs
f. Registered Service Organization Director
g. Division of Housing Staff (for RAs, RDs, etc.)
h. Office of Student Conflict Resolution (OSCR): respondents and complainants involved in any campus/community issue involving the student code (substance abuse, sexual misconduct, assault/battery/violence, etc.) is reported and handled through this office. They have data on occurrences and instances of this. Doesn’t have to take place “on campus” for them to reports of these instances.

The Task at Hand:
During the meeting, a few people suggest that it could be helpful to conduct a survey of students regarding spring break behaviors, attitudes, feelings and experiences. This survey could help the Task Force understand how big of an issue this is. The Task Force also discusses surveying leaders of stakeholder organizations who are “in the know” firsthand about how frequently these issues arise and how severe they are (or are not).

[Survey Approach]

One staff member asserts the survey should be sent to all 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students (including students enrolled in online graduate programs) to be able to infer anything about and to generalize to the entire student population. As the chair of the Task Force, you ask the group if it is necessary to send a survey to the entire CSUEB student population. As the discussion ensues, you and your team discuss the following questions to determine next steps in the process:

1. In this case, why should I implement probability sampling over non-probability sampling?
2. Will I need a sampling frame? Why? If yes, what kind and how am I going to obtain it?
3. Among the 4 probability sampling techniques learned in class, which one should be implemented to gather a sample? Also, please explain the process of gathering a sample using the chosen sampling technique.
4. How large does the sample need to be? What considerations would guide my decision in about the size and composition of the sample?  
   [In-depth Interview Approach]

You and your task force decide that interviews should be done with leaders from key stakeholder groups (see #3 a-h above for a list of key stakeholder groups from within the university.

1. What other stakeholder groups from outside of the university (especially as it relates to Super Bowl) would you benefit from interviewing?
2. In this case, why should I implement non-probability sampling over probability sampling?
3. Will I need a sampling frame? Why? If yes, what kind and how will your task force obtain it?
4. Among the 4 non-probability sampling techniques learned in class, which one should be implemented to gather a sample? Also, please explain the process of gathering a sample using your chosen sampling technique.
5. How large should my sample for these interviews be? What considerations would guide your decision about how large the sample should be for this part of the project?