Two From Penn College Selected to Present at ACHA Annual Meeting
Published 06.08.2010
Two Pennsylvania College of Technology administrators were chosen to present at the American College Health Association's 2010 Annual Meeting, held June 1-5 in Philadelphia.
Carl L. Shaner, student health center director, and Elliott Strickland, special assistant for student affairs and student development, were selected to present on the college's Impaired Student Recovery Area. The presentation, "Developing and Maintaining an Impaired Student Recovery Area on Campus," focused on the impact and benefits of the ISRA on the college and the community, as well as associated liability issues.
Penn College's Impaired Student Recovery Area is a 24-hour health-and-safety initiative that provides a medical observation area, located in the college's Student Health Services Office, for intoxicated students who could be a danger to themselves or others. The facility removes the responsibility of care from a student's peers and roommates.
Staffed by student employees, who are also emergency medical technicians, the ISRA is not a medical-care facility; students who are suffering from alcohol poisoning, overdoses or other serious medical issues are transported to the local emergency room immediately by ambulance.
The ISRA at Penn College was begun in 1999 as a collaboration involving Student Health Services, Residence Life and Penn College Police. Students are released from the facility the following day, when their blood-alcohol levels and behavior are deemed acceptable, and they are escorted to their apartments by Penn College Police.
Students are billed $100 for their stay in the ISRA and must submit to the college's judicial process, which typically results in a BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention of College Students) session and other educational sanctions. In addition, students may face criminal charges relating to underage drinking and/or public drunkenness.
The American College Health Association's mission is to provide advocacy, education, communications, products and services, as well as to promote research and culturally competent practices to help members advance the health of all students and the campus community.
For more information about Penn College, visit online , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.