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The Collegiate Recovery Community

The Collegiate Recovery Community

According to a recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health, “the current level of binge drinking by U.S. college students is a serious problem” (Wechsler, et al. 2001). These findings would suggest that the environment of most university campuses in the United States is not conducive to, or supportive of, recovery from addictive disorders. The main recovery issue facing a collegiate recovering population is lack of peer support. Adolescents and young adults seeking a college education must attempt to navigate this environment on their own, often without the support of even a small group of their peers. It is difficult for students in recovery to find and develop a substance free social network. Additionally, they must combat the stigma associated with addiction/recovery if they choose to self-disclose.

Additionally, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has recently released research supporting long-term interventions for individuals struggling with chemical addiction. This research correlates the length of time spent in treatment and continuing care services with outcomes in recovery. The longer an individual is participating in formal treatment and continuing care programs designed to support recovery, the more positive the outcome. The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery provides a place that allows recovering students to extend their participation in a continuing care program, without having to postpone or eliminate the possibility of achieving their educational goals. Recovering students at the Center are enrolled in recovery programming on an average of one to five years. According to research, this should greatly improve their chances at achieving quality, long-term sobriety.

The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery at Texas Tech University has worked diligently to design a Collegiate Recovery Community that provides a nurturing, affirming environment in which individuals recovering from addictive disorders can find peer support while attaining a college education. Students participating in this community have access to extensive services to support their decision to remain in recovery and to improve their general life skills. Additionally, students involved in the Collegiate Recovery Community attend Twelve Step meetings held regularly on the Texas Tech campus. Through this holistic approach to continuing care for recovering students, the Collegiate Recovery Community is able to address the problems and issues associated with the transitions from high school to college and from active addiction into recovery.

The pairing of education and recovery builds esteem in the students involved with the Collegiate Recovery Community. Their accomplishments translate into reduced problems for society, increased earning potential, heightened community involvement, and broader commitment to service. Many recovering students choose to share their personal histories with their peers, their educators, and their community in an effort to show that addiction is a treatable disease, not a moral weakness.

Community Service Seminar
Community Service Seminar

Seminar in Addiction/Recovery is offered as an academic class and is designed to foster relationships among members of the Collegiate Recovery Community and to provide an arena in which members can receive feedback and guidance from peers on life issues.

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      All members of the Collegiate Recovery Community are required to register for this one-hour seminar class. The class is facilitated by members of the Applied Professional Sciences faculty who are associated with the Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery. Students meet weekly for one hour to explore the behaviors and skills needed to successfully achieve quality, long-term recovery from physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual perspectives. Additionally, this class focuses on specific relapse prevention strategies for the collegiate population.

Twelve-Step Meetings & Other Support
Twelve-Step Meetings & Other Support

The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery believes in the effectiveness and importance of The Twelve Steps in treating addiction and enhancing the lives of recovering persons.

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      Currently, there are Twelve-step meetings every day of the week on the Texas Tech Campus. Texas Tech University has demonstrated support of these meetings by providing a facility to the Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery for the sole purpose of housing meetings. This meeting space is called the Serenity Center and houses all of the on-campus meetings. Twelve-step groups currently meeting at Tech are: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Spanish Speaking Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Eating Disorders Anonymous (EDA), Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA), Alanon, and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA). In addition to meetings, the Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery contracts with professionals in the community to meet the other needs of our students. Currently, the Center works with two counselors to provide extra guidance to our students in the areas of sexual abuse and eating disorders.

Academic Support
Academic Support

Recovery from addiction involves a peer support process. The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery is utilizing that same peer support process to assure the academic success of our students.

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      The Center has developed a peer tutorial program that uses the strengths of some students to benefit the growth of others. By encouraging our students to help each other academically, the Center has boosted the G.P.A. of many students. Our average G.P.A. usually ranges from 3.4 to 3.6. The Center has also implemented a weekly study hall to provide students with a quiet, structured environment to do homework. This study hall will be operated by staff members and volunteers to make sure that our students can get the help they need. It is our goal to assist recovering students in any and every way possible. The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery believes that academic success is a highly important part of building the self-esteem of our students and in helping them to become productive, resilient participants in society.

Association of Students About Service (ASAS)
Association of Students About Service (ASAS)

The Collegiate Recovery Community is committed to the value and importance of community service. Following the guidelines of the Twelve-Step philosophy, the CRC believes that service is crucial to maintaining long-term, quality sobriety.

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      Recovering students at Texas Tech University have formed the Association of Students About Service (ASAS), a registered on-campus student organization that is committed to serving the local community. Each semester, ASAS members select a service project within the Lubbock community. Past service projects include: Habitat for Humanity, food drives for the Lubbock Food Bank, clothing drives for Inside Out (a local faith-based substance abuse program that works specifically with the homeless population), and cleaning and repair of local half-way houses and Alcoholics Anonymous clubhouses. Individual members of the Collegiate Recovery Community are also involved in taking Alcoholic Anonymous meetings to the Lubbock County Jail and area wide prisons.

Scholarship Program
Scholarship Program for Recovering Students

The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery has over $1 million in endowed scholarship funds that are designated specifically for students in recovery from addictive disorders.

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      Currently, the Center is able to provide financial assistance to half of the participants in the Collegiate Recovery Community. In order to qualify for this assistance, a student must:

          Have a minimum of one year of continuous recovery from all identified addictive disorders,
          Obtain three letters of recommendation from individuals who can attest to the quality of their recovery and to their potential for academic success,
          Be admitted to or enrolled in Texas Tech University as a full-time student,
          Maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A.

      Scholarship awards are made only in the Fall semester. Students are awarded $500.00 per semester (excluding summer semesters) until they reach junior standing. At this point, provided the recovering student has been participating in the Collegiate Recovery Community for a minimum of one year, the scholarship award will be made based upon a G.P.A. incentive. The amount of scholarship money received by a student will depend upon the G.P.A. of his/her most recent semester. Scholarship awards will be made according to the following scale:

      3.0 – 3.49 G.P.A. $1,000.00
      3.5 – 3.99 G.P.A. $1,500.00
      4.0 G.P.A. $2,000.00

      Location

      The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery in located at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The Center is located in the College of Human Sciences and is affiliated with the Department of Applied Professional Sciences.

      Scholarship Application
      Download the application to your computer. Complete the form and email the completed form as an attachment to Mr. Vincent Sanchez at vincent.c.sanchez@ttu.edu

      Don't forget to print out 3 Letter of Recommendation Forms

Eating Disorder Program
Eating Disorder Program

The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery is committed to providing support and services to individuals in recovery form eating disorders. It is estimated that one in four female college students suffers from an eating disorder. The Center has included recovery support for this population in the Collegiate Recovery Community.

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      Currently, the CRC has developed a specific track which can address recovery from eating disorders as a student’s primary recovery issue or as a co-occurring disorder alongside alcoholism/drug addiction.

      The Collegiate Recovery Community uses a Twelve-Step philosophy to guide eating disorder recovery. Currently, there are two on-campus recovery meetings on the campus of Texas Tech University that are specific to eating disorders. One is facilitated by a licensed nutritionist and one follows a traditional Twelve-Step format. One section of the Seminar in Addiction/Recovery class is dedicated to dealing specifically with eating disorder recovery. Additionally, scholarships are available for participants in the Collegiate Recovery Community who are in recovery from an eating disorder.

      The eating disorder specific track has been available at the Center for Addiction and Recovery through the Collegiate Recovery Community for the past three years. The cohort of individuals participating in this program has grown steadily since its implementation. Many participants now have multiple years of recovery from anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders.