Camarillo, CA., August 19, 2010 – CSU Channel Islands (CI) announced that Deborah Gravelle, Director of Leadership, Career & Health, and Alan Pasternak, Coordinator of Counseling & Psychological Services, have become certified as Alcohol Prevention Professionals after attending a national Professional Development Institute at Georgetown University.
The Professional Development Institute is a unique leadership development program offering the first-of-its-kind Certificate in Alcohol Prevention Leadership for higher education administrators working to reduce the risks associated with alcohol and other drugs. Developed by leading prevention experts and in close partnership with NASPA, this rigorous three-day training focuses on building the skills required to end the epidemic of alcohol abuse on our nation’s campuses.
“The enormous challenge that high-risk drinking poses to our campuses and the difficulty in making measurable progress on this issue has led several higher education associations to realize the need for more robust professional development resources for alcohol and other drug (AOD) professionals,” said Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy, Executive Director of NASPA. “The demands on today’s AOD practitioner – working broadly across the community, aligning diverse stakeholders, creating comprehensive strategic plans – are more complex than ever before.”
The Professional Development Institute was designed to provide AOD practitioners with valuable insight into their own individual leadership styles, while learning methods for communicating with impact, leveraging spheres of influence, and leading change on their campus. In the three-day classroom sessions, participants interacted with other prevention professionals, practiced new skills, and received valuable feedback from course faculty and peers.
“At CI we are committed to providing cutting-edge professional development opportunities for our staff so that they can meet today’s challenges in the most effective way,” said Dr. William Gregory Sawyer, Vice President for Student Affairs at CI. “We applaud Ms. Gravelle’s and Dr. Pasternak’s hard work and desire to develop their leadership skills for the betterment of CI and the field of higher education alcohol prevention.”
The Professional Development Institute was hosted by NASPA and Outside the Classroom. NASPA is the leading voice for student affairs administration, policy, and practice. With more than 11,000 members at 1,400 campuses, and representing 29 countries, NASPA is the foremost professional association for student affairs administrators, faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students. For nearly a decade, Outside the Classroom has worked to strengthen the field of alcohol prevention by providing institutional leaders and their students with the information and tools they need to develop well-informed, cost-effective strategies for reducing alcohol-related risk and preventing harm. The organization's flagship educational program, AlcoholEdu for College, is used on hundreds of campuses nationwide.
For media inquiries contact Nancy Covarrubias Gill, Director of Communication & Marketing at CSU Channel Islands at 805-437-8456 or nancy.gill@csuci.edu.
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Placing students at the center of the educational experience, California State University Channel Islands provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.
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About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.