A task force affiliated with Harvard Medical School worked for more than a year to develop ways higher education institutions can reduce excessive gambling by students.

Only one in five colleges and universities has a formal policy on gambling. But now that a Harvard-affiliated task force has put together a comprehensive list of recommendations schools can use to help formulate a policy, that percentage may soon be on the rise.

The National Center for Responsible Gaming teamed up with the Cambridge Health Alliance – which is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School – in 2008 to form the Task Force on College Gambling Policies.

More than a year of work has produced a list of 10 recommendations, including:

• Establish a committee to develop and monitor a gambling policy
• Make sure the policy is consistent with local, state and federal laws
• Make sure restrictions related to gambling and alcohol are applied consistently and universally.
• Promote campus-community collaborations aimed at reducing problems relating to student drinking and gambling, and
• Accommodate students who are recovering from a gambling or alcohol problem.

To see all the recommendations and the full report, click here.

Have a comment? Please add it below.

Tags: Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, National Center for Responsible Gaming, student gambling