Programmatic Evaluation of College Initiatives to Reduce Tobacco Use

Abstract

College students are particularly vulnerable to tobacco initiation and use, but college prevention services are rare and often unevaluated. The present project evaluated 27 tobacco use prevention initiatives on college campuses in one southern U.S. state. Each initiative included one 20 hour/week on-campus student coordinator, a faculty or staff advisor, and a monitor. An outside evaluator rated each initiative on compliance with seven activities and five administrative necessities. Most (22) initiatives nearly met, met, or exceeded expectations, but five were noncompliant. Initiative scores correlated positively with students' and advisors' ratings, but were unrelated to the on-campus coordinator's sex, longevity in office, or past tobacco prevention experience. Though limited by not including a rating of the quality of the interventions, this program evaluation provided college tobacco prevention initiatives with an overall rating and specific feedback on how to improve, and allowed each initiative to tailor programs to its specific campus.