Hello Network Members!
 
The Executive Committee of The Network Addressing Collegiate Alcohol and Other Drug Issues is proud to announce its partnership with the new Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD).
 
This is the first recognized and financially supportive partnership for The Network since the Department of Education.  This new partnership represents a significant step forward with funding for essential next steps of The Network.
 
The first priority of the partnership is to get a good understanding of the needs of the field.  While some needs are constant, others are always changing.  We have not embarked on this type of data collection to guide the efforts of The Network in years, this will be very helpful in shaping both the work of The Network as well as the HECAOD.
 
We are also pleased to report that, as a result of the new partnership, The Network will be creating a new and more user friendly website.  This has long been a goal of ExCom and we are looking forward to seeing this develop.
 
There will be a next steps email with more information, however we want to reinforce the benefits of this new partnership. The two most significant benefits being the renewed recognition of The Network by our colleagues in higher education as a valuable and important resource for the AOD field.  We are more fully represented “at the table” in collegiate AOD discussions.   The second benefit is the tools , programs, and resources that will be made available to our member schools.  As we explore this relationship our hope is that the benefits will grow with time and enhance the work being done on colleges and universities in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
 
This has been a long time coming, and on behalf of the Executive Committee of The Network I want to thank you all for hanging I there and helping us move forward.  I also want to give a special thank you to the Executive Committee of the last two years.
 
Ruth DeRosa, Co-Chair
Brian Dietz, Vice-Chair
Diane Berty, Past-Chair
Carla Lapelle, Past Chair
Jim Lange, member-at-large
Karen Moses, member-at-large
 
Sincerely,
John
 
John Watson, MS, NCC, LPC
Co-Chair, The Network Addressing Collegiate Alcohol Other Drug Issues