--- title: "All Night Program" type: "pdf" year: "2005" canonical: "/projects/1297" --- TO: Rob T. Guerette School of Policy and Management University Park, PCA 366B Florida International University 11200 S. W. $8^{\text {th }}$ Street Miami, FL 33199 FROM: Robert J. Levelle II, Lieutenant West Virginia University Department of Public Safety P. O. Box 6561 Morgantown, WV 26506 Telephone 304-293-3136 Fax 304-293-2589 RE: The Herman Goldstein Award application Mr. Guerette, Please accept my nomination of West Virginia University's WVUp All Night program for the Herman Goldstein Award. I strongly believe that my University has the winning application because I know this program works. It provides alternatives to college students partying in nightclubs and has helped reduce alcohol abuse. Thank you for your consideration. Lt. Robert J. Levelle II # THE HERMAN GOLDSTEIN AWARD APPLICATION In August 1997, West Virginia University was named the number one party school in America by the Princeton Review. This "distinction" cast a great deal of unwarranted publicity on our campus. Even with the multiple changes made by David C. Hardesty, Jr. since becoming WVU President, the University realized there had to be a call for change in dealing with alcohol abuse. One of those initiatives was a program later named "WVUp All Night." West Virginia University created an option for students with this week-end program. Designed to go beyond telling students what they should not do, WVUp All Night gives them an attractive alternative to bars and nightclubs. This safe entertainment alternative is held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings in the WVU Mountainlair (student union). The hours of operation are 7:00pm - midnight on Thursdays and 7:00pm - 2:00am on Fridays and Saturdays. The program features free soft drinks and food (including a midnight breakfast bar on Fridays and Saturdays from midnight until 2:00am), study rooms with snacks, bowling, billiards, lectures and presentations, dances, concerts, comedy clubs, late night movies and interactive entertainment. WVUp All Night has proven to be very popular (especially the free midnight breakfast) with an average of 4,000 to 7,000 students attending every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The free midnight breakfast alone has contributed greatly to students leaving the local bars and nightclubs early so they can attend the breakfast. West Virginia University has proven that there are options in dealing with alcohol abuse. West Virginia University Department of Public Safety formally adopted the practice of community policing in 1997 when a group of three (3) officers were hired under a COPS grant; however, informally the department has been practicing the philosophy of community policing since the late 1960's. Community policing is, in effect basic, old fashioned police work. We're still the foot patrol beat cops who know most everyone in our neighborhood and they know us. We encourage our citizens (faculty, staff, students and visitors) residing or working on campus to have a vested interest in what happens here. WVU Department of Public Safety's operational philosophy has always been interactive: personally working with our citizens. Emphasis is placed in two areas: - Officer foot patrols - Crime prevention programs. West Virginia University Department of Public Safety is the sixth largest police department in the state of West Virginia. It employs 47 certified police officers. Officers are assigned to one of four non-rotating shifts: - Day 7:30am - 3:30pm - Afternoon 3:30pm - 11:30pm - Power 8:00pm - 5:00am - Midnight 11:30pm - 7:30am All officers are required to foot patrol when not busy with other job-related duties. Within these shifts there are also fixed post assignments that are $100 \%$ foot patrol. These are the residence halls, teaching hospital and student union. The Power Shift officers work the residence halls and student union. Emphasis is on stopping problems and crime before they occur and making the residents feel safe. This is addressed by constant roving patrols, conducting multiple crime prevention programs, and working closely with the West Virginia University Student Affairs Office. Examples of crime prevention programs conducted are as follows: - Operation ID (marking valuables) - Operation Lock-Out (securing residence hall doors) - DPS Jeopardy (interactive game teaching students about alcohol and drug abuse issues, personal safety issues and general crime related matters and their consequences) - Fatal Vision Goggle program (alcohol abuse and consequences) - PROTECT (women's self-defense) - M-Pact (men's self-defense) West Virginia University is a major land grant university with 164 buildings on 913 acres divided into two campuses, Downtown and Evansdale. There are 4,909 full-time faculty and staff employees and 782 part-time faculty and staff employees. Fall 2004 student enrollment was 25,255, with students attending from all 55 West Virginia counties, all 50 states and 90 countries. The University President, David C. Hardesty, Jr. became West Virginia University's leader in July 1995. He wasted no time in making the following improvements to the campus: - Established a vision for the University as a studentcentered institution. - Established a position of Vice President for Student Affairs to serve as a student advocate. - Created the Mountainlair Parent's Club to assist in changing direction of the University and improve communications between parents and institution. - Installed the Faculty Leader Program for the Residence Halls. This created a sense of community for first year students. The Resident Faculty Leaders reside in housing adjacent to the Residence Halls and serve as mentors to the students. - Reestablished first year student convocation for the purpose of orienting students to the University's expectations in their first year. - Created "Fallfest," a back-to-school extravaganza featuring concerts, films, comedy clubs, dances, etc. Fallfest replaced a once dangerous off-campus and unsanctioned block party. Even with all these efforts there were still challenges to be faced. West Virginia University had already received a great deal of negative publicity in years past because of the Grant Avenue block party; a large, unsanctioned, off-campus, back-to-school block party held every year at the beginning of the Fall semester. At its height, crowds of 15,000 would attend this event and, would at times, become unruly and violent. President Hardesty and Vice President of Student Affairs Kenneth D. Gray realized something had to be done to deal with the alcohol abuse problems. They, along with the University Central Administration team, including Chief Bobby E. Roberts, WVU Department of Public Safety; Student Government; State of West Virginia officials and City of Morgantown officials began meeting to discuss and resolve this problem. The general consensus was: - WVU would have to provide a structured, social event on its property on the same day the unsanctioned party was held in order to end the "old" party. - WVU needed to create a safe entertainment alternative to the bars and nightclubs on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, which are the busy student drinking nights throughout the school year, in order to decrease the alcohol abuse incidents. Everyone agreed that for any planned event to be successful, the majority of the student population had to be agreeable to the changes. Written surveys were created and sent to the students asking for their opinions on what type of new event(s) they would like to see. After many weeks of planning it was decided WVU would start hosting an annual, back-to-school festive event on an open air plaza on its Downtown Campus, behind the student union. This event would include nationally known concert groups, film festivals, comedy clubs and dances. It was decided that in order to draw the crowd to this new event, and away from the old block party, alcohol (beer) would have to be served in as safe a setting as possible. The entire Plaza area would be fenced-off and only four (4) entrances to the venue allowed. Police officers and University staff members would monitor each entrance. People attending the new event would not be allowed to bring-in alcohol. Anyone entering the area with carrying cases of any type would be subject to a personal search. Beer would be sold to those of legal drinking age and with a limit of five cups per person. Officers of the WVU Department of Public Safety, Morgantown City Police Department and plainclothes agents of the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration (ABCA) were tasked with enforcing all alcohol-related laws. This event was named "Fallfest." From the first year, Fallfest has been a success. Alcohol-related incidents are not the major issues they were before because WVU is now controlling the alcohol usage. Attendance averages 12,000 - 15,000 each year. The Grant Avenue Block Party is not the problem it was before. Now that this off-campus problem was solved, it was time to address the on-going problem of alcohol abuse throughout the school year. Based on the success of Fallfest, West Virginia University officials asked their students if they were interested in alternative entertainment events in contrast to drinking at bars and nightclubs on week-ends. Surprisingly, a high percentage said they would like the option of something different. Vice President Kenneth D. Gray and his staff began to research the availability of programs currently in use on college campuses throughout the country. None could be found. This meant WVU would have to create a pilot program. They determined that for this type of program to be successful they would need to accomplish three things: - Create multiple entertainment events that would appeal to a wide diversification of students. - Create consistent interest in the program - Create a logistical support system for the program to ensure it operates efficiently and consistently over an extended period of time. A WVUp All Night University-wide committee was created with Vice President Kenneth D. Gray serving as Chairman. Select faculty, staff and students were asked to serve on the committee. Many hours of meetings, planning and multiple written surveys later, the program WVUp All Night was born. WVU wanted to create a safe, structured, alternative event held on campus that would provide all students with an "option" to the partying which was occurring most Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. It was decided the program would be held in the student union due to its central location on the Downtown Campus. A support system of workers was put into place: - Public Safety Officers to ensure a safe environment. - Transportation staff to transport students from Student Union back to their various Residence Halls. - Custodial staff to ensure building cleanliness. - Kitchen staff to prepare and serve food. - Student Union supervisory staff to manage building operations An obvious concern in creating this program was cost. WVU worried that money would not be available. Once they witnessed the large number of students utilizing WVUp All Night, it was decided to permanently fund the program with a small percentage increase in the student fees. WVUp All Night was considered a success from the beginning. The Student Affairs Office, along with Student Government, played a large role in making this program popular. The success is measured in three (3) basic ways: - Weekly surveys are now done to stay abreast of student interest. The event changes based on the likes and dislikes of the students responding to the surveys. - Weekly statistics on attendance is recorded. Attendance averages 4,000 - 7,000 students every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. - Weekly statistics kept on the amount of food being consumed are always high. Our overall actual results from WVUp All Night were met and exceeded. The program has been successful for the following reasons: - A high percentage of students have stated verbally and in written surveys that they appreciate the effort WVU made in creating an alternate entertainment event for them. - It provides an alternative to drinking alcohol. - Creates a festive environment for all types of students to socialize in. - Encourages the students to leave bars and nightclubs before the normal 3:00am closing time in order to attend the free breakfast. Students must be at the program, finished with their food and exiting the building by 2:00am. We estimate up to $20 \%$ of our student population are now leaving drinking establishments $11 / 2$ hours earlier than they did before WVUp All Night was created. West Virginia University Department of Public Safety greatly appreciates the efforts the WVU administrative team made towards curbing the abuse of alcohol, not only on our property but throughout the city limits of Morgantown. Without their sincere desire to address this problem, WVU would still have the negative party school image we had in the past. What West Virginia University Department of Public Safety learned from this program: - Your main decision-making administrators must be advocates of the idea and be willing to fund it initially. - To solve large problems requires a large effort from all concerned parties. - You must ask your residents (students) what they want. - You must constantly keep the program changing so the residents (students) don't lose interest. - You must keep track of all aspects of the program to determine if the program is progressing in the direction you want. What other campus police agencies can learn from this program: - Involve your main decision-making administrators. - Involve as many faculty, students, staff and employees as possible. - Be creative. - Ask the students what they believe will work. - Provide options. # Table of Contents - [THE HERMAN GOLDSTEIN AWARD APPLICATION](#the-herman-goldstein-award-application) - [CONTACTS:](#contacts) # CONTACTS: - David C. Hardesty, Jr., President West Virginia University Stewart Hall P. O. Box 6201 Morgantown, WV 26506 Telephone 304-293-5531 - Kenneth D. Gray, Vice President for Student Affairs West Virginia University 205 E. Moore Hall P. O. Box 6411 Morgantown, WV 26506 Telephone 304-293-5811 - Bobby E. Roberts, Director / Chief West Virginia University Public Safety \& Transportation Services P. O. Box 6561 Morgantown, WV 26506 Telephone 304-293-3136 Fax 304-293-2589 Email Bob.Roberts@mail.wvu.edu - Robert J. Levelle II, Lieutenant West Virginia University Department of Public Safety P. O. Box 6561 Morgantown, WV 26506 Telephone 304-293-3136 Fax 304-293-2589 Email Robin.Levelle@mail.wvu.edu