The University of Colorado at Boulder has announced the creation of a new center to support students in recovery from addiction, based on a model program emphasizing peer-based support now in place at Texas Tech University.
The new CU-Boulder Center for Â鶹ÒùÔº in Recovery will provide needs assessment, academic and housing support, 12-step meetings, addiction recovery education and community service opportunities. The center will be funded initially by a six-month, $25,000 seed grant from the CU Parent Fund and is expected to become self-funded through contributions and grants from foundations and private support, said CU-Boulder Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ron Stump.
"I'm excited about this program because it fills a need within the university," said Robert Cranny, director of CU-Boulder's Wardenburg Health Center, who will oversee the administration of the center. "This will give us a solid structure for recovering students, providing direct, on-campus support that supplements community support available for those in recovery."
The new CU-Boulder center is modeled after the Texas Tech program begun two decades ago, which now involves 80 students in recovery each semester, said Jack Lavino, who will coordinate the CU-Boulder center. While most CU-Boulder students will be in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, others may be in recovery from other addictions such as eating disorders, he said.
"One of the goals of this center is to energize the recovering people on this campus, as well as their family members and friends," said Lavino. "We hope supporters of this center will participate in campus recovery meetings and act as mentors for our students."
Cranny said he has been approached at CU-Boulder student orientation sessions by parents inquiring about recovery programs on campus for students. "From a health center perspective, I think we will see the same thing for students recovering from drug and alcohol addiction that we have seen regarding those with eating disorders," said Cranny. "That is, the number of students we have in recovery on campus is significantly higher than we had anticipated."
CU-Boulder hopes eventually to build support for the program, as has been done with the student recovery program at Texas Tech, Lavino said. The Texas Tech student recovery program has an endowment of more than $2 million that allows the school to offer a number of small scholarships annually to participating students who demonstrate recovery, academic achievement and service, Lavino said.
Campus administrators are collaborating with Texas Tech representatives, who have provided curriculum materials to CU-Boulder developed with a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Education, Lavino said. CU-Boulder officials, who have worked for the past several months to finalize the program, plan to admit up to 10 students by the fall semester.
The CU-Boulder Center will be housed in Willard Hall on campus and will include weekly "celebration of recovery" meetings that will be open to all members of the Boulder community and surrounding area, said Lavino.
Texas Tech also is piloting the recovery center curriculum material at the University of Texas at San Antonio and two junior colleges, Lavino said. Other colleges with student recovery programs include the University of Texas at Austin, Rutgers University, Brown University and Augsburg College in Minneapolis, he said.
CU-Boulder center officials are in the process of forming a fundraising committee comprised of people from around Colorado. They also will collaborate with a number of groups, including high schools and colleges with recovery programs and addiction-treatment centers, including the University of Colorado Hospital's Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation in Denver.