| Course | PAC 102 Substance Abuse in Educational Settings |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 7 |
| Paper type | Collegiate recovery proposal |
| Length | About 1,004 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Psychology and Addiction Studies |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PAC 102 Module 7
A Room, a Coach and Each Other: Proposing a Recovery Community at a College Where Everyone Goes Home at Night
Student Name
Psychology and Addiction Studies Program, Aspen University
PAC 102: Substance Abuse in Educational Settings
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
A Room, a Coach and Each Other: Proposing a Recovery Community at a College Where Everyone Goes Home at Night
Lakeshore Community College's counseling center sees students in recovery every week: a veteran who has been sober for three years and is studying welding, a twenty-four-year-old returning after treatment to finish a nursing prerequisite, a mother in her thirties attending evening classes while in a medication-supported recovery program. The college offers them general counseling but no recovery group, no space and no staff who specialize in recovery. Several have told counselors that the college feels like a place where drinking and drug use are assumed, from orientation jokes to the parties on Maple Street. This paper proposes a collegiate recovery community designed for Lakeshore's commuter campus. The college, students and proposal are invented; the research is real.
Why Students in Recovery Need Support on Campus
College can be a risky environment for people in recovery. Substance use is common among students, social life often centers on drinking and students in recovery may feel they must hide their history to fit in. At the same time, education is a powerful support for recovery, offering purpose, structure and a path to work. Collegiate recovery programs try to make college a place where recovery and education reinforce each other.
Who Participates
Laudet et al. (2015) surveyed students enrolled in collegiate recovery programs at colleges across the United States. The participants differed from typical undergraduates. Many were older, with an average age in the mid-twenties, and most had long and serious substance use histories, often involving multiple substances, and had been in treatment. Many had been in recovery for several years and participated regularly in mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. When asked about the program's importance, about a third said they would not have been in college, or at that college, without it. The findings suggest that collegiate recovery programs serve students with substantial recovery capital and that the programs themselves draw students to college.
Lakeshore's likely participants resemble this profile: older students, veterans and adults returning after treatment are a large share of its enrollment.
Elements of a Model Program
Harris et al. (2008) described the collegiate recovery community at Texas Tech University as a systems model for sustaining recovery in college. Its elements worked together. A dedicated space gave students a place on campus to gather. Peer community, built through seminars, meetings and social events, replaced the drinking-centered social life of campus. Staff provided recovery support and connected students to mutual-help groups and counseling. Academic integration included a seminar course, advising and priority support. The program reported low relapse rates among its members and academic performance above the university average, though the authors noted that participants were self-selected and the program had not been tested against a comparison group.
Students' Own Accounts
Bell et al. (2009) interviewed students at a university center for students in recovery about how the center affected them. Students described the center as making college possible, giving them a place to belong in an environment that otherwise felt unsafe for their recovery. They emphasized the importance of peers who understood their experience, the chance to be open about recovery without stigma and the support that helped them manage academic stress without returning to use. Several said they had attempted college before and left, and that the center made the difference this time.
Adapting the Model for a Commuter College
Lakeshore cannot copy a residential program. Its students arrive in the morning, attend classes at scattered times and go home to families and jobs. The proposal adapts each element.
| Element | Residential model | Lakeshore adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| Space | Dedicated house or lounge, open evenings | A student center lounge open twelve hours on class days, with lockers |
| Peer community | Social events on campus nights and weekends | Daily midday meeting, monthly family-friendly sober events, an online group for evening students |
| Staff | Full-time program staff | A part-time recovery coach plus trained counselors |
| Academic support | Seminar course, priority advising | Early registration to fit treatment and work schedules, a one-credit recovery seminar |
| Privacy | Students known to staff | Participation confidential; lounge signage neutral |
Linking With the Recovery High School
The county recovery high school proposed in Module 6 will send some of its graduates to Lakeshore Community College, and the collegiate recovery community should be ready for them. The two programs can share a recovery coach for part of the week, hold joint sober events and arrange campus visits for recovery high school seniors, so that students who have built recovery in high school do not lose their peer community at graduation. This connection reflects the course's view of recovery as something that continues across settings. A student who moves from one supportive community to another faces a smaller gap than one who leaves a recovery school and arrives at a college where no one knows their story.
Cost and Stigma
The program would cost about $95,000 a year, mainly for the coach, events and lounge staffing, which the college could fund through its student services budget and a state grant for recovery supports. Stigma requires care. Some students will want to be visible advocates; others will want privacy. The lounge will carry a neutral name, and enrollment in the program will not appear on transcripts.
Measuring Success
The college will track participants' continued enrollment, grades and completion compared with similar students, and with participants' consent, their self-reported recovery status each semester. Students will also be asked what helps and what is missing, following Bell and colleagues' lesson that students' own accounts guide improvement.
Conclusion
Students in recovery at Lakeshore Community College have no organized support in an environment that often assumes substance use. Laudet and colleagues describe who participates in collegiate recovery programs and how much the programs matter to them, Harris and colleagues describe the elements of a model program and Bell and colleagues show that students experience such programs as making college possible. A recovery community adapted to commuters can bring these benefits to Lakeshore.
References
Bell, N. J., Kanitkar, K., Kerksiek, K. A., Watson, W., Das, A., Kostina-Ritchey, E., Russell, M. H., & Harris, K. (2009). "It has made college possible for me": Feedback on the impact of a university-based center for students in recovery. Journal of American College Health, 57(6), 650-658. https://doi.org/10.3200/JACH.57.6.650-658
Harris, K. S., Baker, A. K., Kimball, T. G., & Shumway, S. T. (2008). Achieving systems-based sustained recovery: A comprehensive model for collegiate recovery communities. Journal of Groups in Addiction & Recovery, 2(2-4), 220-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/15560350802080951
Laudet, A. B., Harris, K., Kimball, T., Winters, K. C., & Moberg, D. P. (2015). Characteristics of students participating in collegiate recovery programs: A national survey. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 51, 38-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2014.11.004
Reading the PAC 102 Module 7 assignment instructions
Collegiate recovery communities are the seventh module's subject in PAC 102, and you will probably be asked to propose or evaluate one for a particular college, building on research about students in recovery. Where the Module 7 instructions in your classroom differ from this page, follow them; the college is invented. Explain why students in recovery need support on campus. Describe who participates in such programs and what they need. Present the elements of effective models. Adapt the model to your college's setting. Plan how success will be measured, citing every source in APA 7 form. Explain how the design respects students' privacy, since some will not want their recovery known.
How the PAC 102 Module 7 example is put together
Lakeshore Community College enrolls about nine thousand students; its counseling center estimates that dozens are in recovery, including veterans and adults returning after treatment, but there is no recovery group, space or staff. Laudet and colleagues (Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment) describe students in collegiate recovery programs nationally: often older than typical undergraduates, with years of recovery and frequent involvement in mutual-help groups. A model program at a large public university, written up by Harris and colleagues, supplies the core elements: dedicated space, peer community, recovery support staff and academic integration. Bell and colleagues (Journal of American College Health) report students' own accounts of what a recovery center meant. The proposal adapts the model for commuters: a lounge open from early morning to evening, a part-time recovery coach, a daily midday meeting, sober social events and early registration, with recovery and academic outcomes tracked.
Reading the PAC 102 Module 7 grading rubric
Collegiate recovery proposals earn credit when they rest on research about who participates and what helps, and when they fit the specific campus. This example uses a national survey to describe likely participants, a model program description to identify core elements and student accounts to show what matters to students themselves. Its main contribution is adaptation: it recognizes that a commuter college cannot copy a residential program and changes hours, scheduling and social events accordingly. The evaluation plan measures both recovery and academic outcomes, which a college administration will expect.
Common PAC 102 Module 7 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Proposals for recovery communities often copy a program from a large residential university without asking whether it fits. Describe your campus and adapt the model. Another weakness is assuming participants are typical eighteen-year-olds; national data show many are older, with longer histories. Ground the proposal in what students in recovery say they need, not only what staff assume. Address stigma and privacy, since students may fear being identified. Include costs and who will pay. Finally, plan to measure academic success as well as recovery, since both justify the program to a college. Show where the money comes from and what the first year will cost.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More PAC 102 and Psychology and Addiction Studies sample papers
- PAC 102 Module 1: Substance Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults
- PAC 102 Module 2: Risk and Protective Factors
- PAC 102 Module 3: Prevention in High Schools
- PAC 102 Module 4: Substance Use on College Campuses
- PAC 102 Module 5: Screening and Early Intervention
- PAC 102 Module 6: Recovery High Schools
- PAC 102 Module 8: A Community Plan for Students in Recovery
- SBS 105 Module 2: The Biology of Behavior
- PAC 120 Module 3: Attending, Observing and Questioning
- PAC 310 Module 6: Scope of Practice and Competence
- PAC 110 Module 3: Learning and Behavioral Theories
PAC 102 Module 7 questions, answered
What does PAC 102 Module 7 usually ask for?
Aspen's PAC 102 covers collegiate recovery communities in this module, so proposing or evaluating one for a college, based on research about students in recovery, is typical. Read your Module 7 prompt.
What is a collegiate recovery community?
A campus program that supports students in recovery from substance use disorders with peers, space, staff and academic support.
Who participates in collegiate recovery programs?
Laudet and colleagues found many participants older than typical students, with long substance histories and years of recovery.
Where can I find a free PAC 102 Module 7 sample paper?
This page offers it free: a proposal for a recovery community at an invented commuter college, adapted from research on campus programs.
Do collegiate recovery programs help?
Students in Laudet and colleagues' survey and Bell and colleagues' interviews often said the program made staying in college possible.