Prevention Education

The Prevention Education Office recognizes the adjustments students face when they embark on their academic careers. This sometimes includes moving away from family and long-time friends, to a new living and learning environment.

The manner in which students cope with these changes, and develop throughout their college years impacts the preparedness for their lives after college. Maintaining a healthy balance between social, academic, and work priorities can assist in this process, while use of alcohol and other drugs may compromise this development.

Our office exists to help students understand the connection between substance misuse and future success, to identify their individual risk factors for chemical dependency, and examine the choices they have made regarding alcohol and other drug use. Toward this goal, we provide the following services:

• Self-referrals
  • We welcome self-referrals for students to privately speak about their substance use with an alcohol and drug educator. We examine patterns of substance use, and meet students where they are at. Our goal is to educate students and increase their ability to make healthy choices around using alcohol and other substances.
• 3rd Millennium
  • An online course designed specifically to help students who have violated alcohol or cannabis policies make safer, healthier choices. The course provides a strong educational foundation to support campus judicial programs and is an essential component of our comprehensive alcohol prevention initiatives.
• Counseling 
  • Individual counseling at our Counseling Center is available for students with alcohol or other drug-related problems.
• Educational Outreach
  • The Prevention Educator is available to conduct a variety of training sessions and workshops on substance misuse for residence halls, COR 101 classes, student clubs, and organizations.
• Information and Resources
  • A variety of materials concerning substance use and misuse are available for use by students, outside of the office in Van Hoesen, room B-1. Information about campus and other community resources is also available. Feel free to stop in, too!
• Alcohol Free Environments and Events

Get Involved

• Weed Like to Know What You Think
  • Campus-wide survey assessing SUNY Cortland students' use, knowledge, and attitudes surrounding cannabis
• Last Call with Sarah and Marissa Podcast
  • Weekly podcast that discusses various alcohol and other drug (AOD) topics - find all episodes and transcripts here

Online Resources

• National Institute on Drug Abuse
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
• National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors
• College Drinking: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
• Did You Know?
  • Quick Facts About AOD Policies in the Student Code of Conduct