Iowa State is not among a small group of universities across the nation that have expanded their substance abuse recovery services by providing on-campus housing to students recovering from substance abuse.

“I believe there are no plans for that as of now, but we may discuss that in the future,” said John Shertzer, residence life coordinator for the Department of Residence.

The Department of Residence does, however, provide help in other ways to students who have substance abuse problems, Shertzer said.

“We do have substance-free environments. Some are alcohol-free environments. All are smoke-free, all are drug-free,” Shertzer said. “For those students who are in recovery, adjustments can be made [in their housing option].”

Students can contact Department of Residence representatives and request an alcohol-free room, Shertzer said.

The department helps students with past substance abuse struggles as much as possible, he said.

“We have never run into a situation where there have been no alcohol-free rooms available to students requesting them, because all of Union Drive and Maple Hall is alcohol-free,” he said. “Plus, if you are paired with a roommate who is under 21, that room would also be alcohol-free.”

Jon Brandon is the coordinator for Iowa State’s Substance Abuse Intervention Program, the primary provider of services and counseling on campus to students seeking help for drugs and alcohol addictions. He said specific housing set aside for students in recovery may pose problems.

“I think it is certainly worth looking at if it is being successful at other places, but there are several problems that may arise from it, such as students not wanting to be associated with those issues,” Brandon said. “It would be a privacy issue.”

Iowa State does provide many other services to those students who are in recovery from substance abuse, but most students don’t use these services, Brandon said.

“It’s a very rare occasion for students to seek treatment for substance abuse problems. I think a lot of them would benefit, but they just don’t seek it,” Brandon said. “Less than 20 students per year voluntarily seek assessments for substance abuse.”

The main reasons why students don’t ask for help are youth and the cultural expectations placed on students to accept drinking as a normal part of college life, Brandon said.

The Substance Abuse Intervention Program specializes in assistance to individuals before and after treatment at a detoxification center, Brandon said.

“On the front end, we do assessments and connect people with services and treatments, and we will also give them feedback,” Brandon said. “After they get treatment, we do counseling and help them find groups in the community.”