{"id":17,"date":"2020-02-25T11:45:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T11:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=podcast&p=17"},"modified":"2020-11-16T19:48:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T19:48:13","slug":"episode-2-kate-lower-director-of-shift","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast\/episode-2-kate-lower-director-of-shift\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 2 – Kate Lower, Director of SHIFT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kate Lower, LCPC, BC-DMT, is the director of the SHIFT initiative at UT Austin. The mission of SHIFT is to address the university community in dialogue that changes the culture of campus substance use from one of misuse to one of well-being. SHIFT is working to create a safer culture around college life and substance use by holding student forums, and by collaborating with other on-campus counseling and health resources.<\/p>\n

Their next event will bring in experts to focus on anything you’d want to know about vaping. It will be held on March 4th, 5:30 pm, in the Texas Union Quadrangle Room – and students are more than welcome to submit questions and attend.<\/p>\n

For more information on SHIFT, visit their website at shift.utexas.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kate Lower, LCPC, BC-DMT, is the director of the SHIFT initiative at UT Austin. The mission of SHIFT is to address the university community in dialogue that changes the culture of campus substance use from one of misuse to one of well-being. SHIFT is working to create a safer culture around college life and substance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2020\/02\/LIVE-Kate-Lower-v2.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"52.72M","filesize_raw":"55285318","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"tags":[11,7,13,16,17,15,12,14,6,10],"series":[2],"class_list":{"0":"post-17","1":"podcast","2":"type-podcast","3":"status-publish","5":"tag-alcohol","6":"tag-austin","7":"tag-hazing","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-holistic","10":"tag-smoking","11":"tag-students","12":"tag-substance-use","13":"tag-ut","14":"tag-vaping","15":"series-live","16":"entry"},"acf":{"related_episodes":"","hosts":[{"ID":68,"post_author":"39","post_date":"2020-07-20 20:29:28","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-20 20:29:28","post_content":"","post_title":"Dr. Brandon Jones","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"dr-brandon-jones","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-07-20 20:33:17","post_modified_gmt":"2020-07-20 20:33:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=speaker&p=68","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"guests":[{"ID":59,"post_author":"19","post_date":"2020-07-10 16:58:41","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-10 16:58:41","post_content":"\n

Kate\u00a0Jonesco\u00a0Lower, MA, LCPC, is the inaugural director of SHIFT,\u00a0a new\u00a0initiative at UT aimed to change the culture of substance use on campus.\u00a0SHIFT hopes to nurture a culture of community, healthy connections, and positive coping skills while reducing substance misuse and its harms. This effort embraces collaborative partnerships both on and off-campus to engage students, faculty, and staff members in a dialogue that challenges the current norm of substance misuse as an inevitable part of college life. SHIFT aims to leverage what exists while further cultivating innovative ideas around shifting campus culture.\u00a0Kate has worked in the clinical realm as a dance\/movement therapist before focusing on prevention in higher education. She received her BA from Loyola University Chicago and her graduate degree at Columbia College Chicago in Dance\/Movement Therapy and Counseling.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Kate Lower","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"kate-lower","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-11-12 19:26:36","post_modified_gmt":"2020-11-12 19:26:36","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=speaker&p=59","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"Transcript":"

Welcome to Life Leadership, Innovation Ventures and Entrepreneurship. A podcast
\n\ue5d4
\nthat showcases the talents, skills and abilities of U.T. faculty, staff and students.
\nI’m your host, Brandon Jones, associate director for Student Learning and Development in Housing and Dining.
\nAnd we’re excited to have you listening to this. Welcome to this episode of Life The
\nLeadership Innovation Ventures and Entrepreneurship podcast brought to you by University Housing
\nand Dining. I’m your host, Brandon Jones, associate director for Student Learning and Development. And
\non today’s episode, we’ve got Kate Lower, director of the Shift program. And Shift
\nis a program that engages the community in dialog that changes the culture of campus substance
\nuse from one of misuse to one of well-being. And we’re so excited to have Kate with
\nthis on today. First, can you introduce yourself? Tell us who you are. Tell us
\nyour position and talk to us about shift. Sure. So my name is Kate
\nLower and I am the director of Shift. So Shift is a brand new initiative here at U.T. Austin,
\nwhich aims to shift the culture of substance use on college campuses starting right here at u._t.
\nSo looking at when we call it, when we talk about a shift of we have this kind
\nof assumption and narrative around what it means to be a college student. And so often that
\nevokes images of wild parties and, you know, copious amounts of substance
\nuse as the norm. So much so that I hear from students a lot that if
\nI’m not doing that, if I’m not partaking in this kind of party culture, well, then I’m not doing college.
\nRight. And that is simply not true on a lot of levels. Most of our students, if they choose
\nto use, are doing so pretty moderately. A lot of our students choose not to use for a lot of different reasons.
\nAnd so the narrative that that’s the norm is is a little bit misleading. So what Scheft hopes to do
\nis really have a different conversation or kind of challenge that narrative to
\none that’s more focused on holistic well-being. Our students are so multidimensional that really to
\nsay there is one way to do college is really a disservice to the really
\nincredible things that our students are doing and the incredible people that they are awesome. So
\nshift is not an acronym. It’s what it he is. Right? Shift is our
\nmission and motivation, right? It is our bold call to action. And that’s what I love about the name.
\nAnd that’s another reason why I wanted you on the show is because I really like the fact that it
\nis what it is. It says it’s shift. And then you could you could talk about everything else.
\nThat shift is about after that. And I love the fact that the focus is on holistic well-being,
\nbecause that’s that’s who we are in student affairs. We’re all about the student development
\naspect. And so that’s the whole student. And so, Kate, talk about what that’s looked like since
\nyou. And first of all, how long have you been doing this? Heidi? Yeah, sure. So
\nI started her shift kind of started and conceptualisation
\nabout a year and a half ago. And then I came on. I was hired as director,
\ngosh, last end of spring. So I moved to Austin on June 1st and I was in the office
\non June 3rd. Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow. We do move quickly. Harry Reid liked it. Well. Hey, chefs,
\ngotta happen. We got some work to do. I like that shift happens. So
\ntalk to us about some of the things that you all are doing. Can you talk about some of the initiatives that you all have in place
\nor some of the pilots that you and I have had a chance to talk about? Yeah, sure. So,
\nyou know, shift is is a grant funded opportunity. And so we have until 2020
\nto I to kind of hopes that make some meaningful moves. Right. That indicate a shift
\nin culture. And so there are six different pilot initiatives that we
\nare launching and hoping to kind of contribute to that idea of culture
\nshift, because culture is not linear, it’s not one dimensional. So we’re really approaching it from a lot of different
\navenues. So another really unique thing about shift is that
\nit really is a an initiative that falls under
\ntwo very two realms. Right. So we I am part of the School of Undergraduate Studies as
\nwell as the division of student affairs, really in equal parts. And so that right there
\nis it feels like some innovative, you know, work right there.
\nSo you’re academic. So you see your academic base as well as student affairs. Absolutely. So we’re so
\nwe’re looking at shift happening in the classroom and beyond. Right. Because our students, again, are not
\nonly students, you know, 24\/7, they are full people.
\nAnd so the first couple of pilots really look at the academic experience. So
\nin our first pilot, we’ve worked with a lot of signature course faculty in the School of Undergraduate Studies
\nand helping them lean into these protective factors and
\nthrough the Search Institute. It’s called the 40 assets and we call it the 40 assets
\nfor the 40 acres. But really, what if they are 40 assets or in other words, protective factors?
\nSo what are ways that we can enhance student well-being within the curriculum,
\nwithin, you know, that kind of relationship with a professor in the classroom? In a way that not
\nonly curb substance misuse or mitigates the risk of it, but in a way that also mitigates
\na lot of related things, potentially mental health or well-being issues or,
\nyou know, even academic success, retention. Those kind of things are protective factors that just help with
\nthe holistic well-being of a student. So we’ve worked with faculty on ways to do that in the classroom
\nas part of the first pilot. The second pilot is very similar, though. We’ve been working with pure academic
\ncoaches, supplemental instructors. And then we will be training figs and Trigs in the spring as well
\nin very similar ways. So how do you help kind of enhance the student experience in these
\nways, beings being the freshmen interest groups, intrigues being transfer? Correct. Thank you for
\nthat. I honestly didn’t know I was. I know by figs which transfer
\ninterest groups. That’s new for me. Yes, absolutely. Well, I think we have so many transfer students and it’s really important. That’s
\na unique experience as well. And chefs certainly tries to be to speak to all students.
\nRight. From. From all different experiences. So transfer students, that’s a that’s a really important
\nexperience to to focus on. So those are the first couple of pilots. The third and fourth pilots are really
\nmore environmental. I’m so kind of getting beyond the classroom or outside of the classroom. So looking at
\ncommunity partnerships, not only on campus but beyond. So one of the things we’re trying to do
\nis work with local community partners such as those in the hospitality
\ncommunity. So where our students socialize, where they work, where they play, how can we
\ncreatively look at the environment and make that a more supportive place that that embraces? Well, well, being
\nthe fourth pilot is really centered around events. So in a couple of different ways, I think
\nwe are really interested in harm reduction. Right. And kind of looking at water
\ndistribution, food distribution during high risk times like tailgating or like Roundup or these these
\nevents where students might need, you know, some some water or some food to
\nkind of help mitigate some potential risk there. And then I think we’re also looking
\nat the social experiences. Right. I think what we hear from a lot of students is I need to go
\nto these parties where a lot of substance use is very prevalent. And I honestly wouldn’t even partake, but that’s the
\nonly place I’m going to meet people. So we’re trying to challenge that or what are some other social experiences that we can
\nhelp elevate or provide for students where they can build connection and meaningful friendships
\nin a way that doesn’t revolve around substance use? So that’s something else that we’re really interested. And then
\nthe fifth pilot is kind of looking at how do we engage peers in technology and what can we do? And
\nkind of looking at putting the messaging in the hands of peers and peer leaders and
\nthat they can reach out to their friends in real time as behaviors are taking place in a
\nway that feels real and organic for them, in a way as a kind of prompt, some some
\nreflective thinking. And then the six pilot isn’t necessarily a a pilot ish. It’s it’s
\nwe call it the shift ovation awards. I know. Fancy, right. So our shift
\novation awards are really an open opportunity for anyone across campus who has an idea that contributes
\nto shifting the campus culture around substance use. And they can apply for shift division funds
\nand shift will support this endeavor. You know, as long as it’s completed, I think with within
\nour grant period. So what I love about that is it is really, truly
\nan open call to anyone. That’s part of UTSA staff for faculty and students.
\nAnd I love that. It just kind of garners a wide variety
\nof ideas. Right. Like, I’m not I’m certainly not holding any secret answers. Right. That
\nis going to like fix our fix the problem or kind of address culture change independently.
\nIt really takes a community to do that. And so shift ovation awards really invites everybody to have some ownership
\nand bring some creative and innovative ideas, because that’s what we do best. I love that.
\nAnd so you talked about the environment. And one of the things that I think about and what you and
\nI’ve had this conversation before. One of things I think about is that being in Austin, Texas, we’re surrounded by
\nso many opportunities and also experiences that
\nimpact the lives of our students. Formula One Second of the Americas, we’ve got
\nsouth by southwest coming up here in a couple of weeks. We’ve got Austin City Limits,
\nall these different opportunities for our students to take advantage of Austin, Texas,
\nbut also potentially consume. And so I know over in housing and dining, these are one of these
\nis one of those are the times, rather, that we tend to put messaging out there
\nabout, you know, the guest policy and making sure the students understand that, you know,
\nwe they need that they need to follow those rules. What? Some of the things that you all are going to be doing during those
\ntimes to kind of inform students, but not only that, if I’m a student listening to this podcast and
\nI’m hearing about shift, what’s going to be my encounter with you all? Like what does that look like
\nin a positive? In a positive way? When I say encounter. Yeah. Yeah. And
\nI think that’s a great question. And I think I look forward to kind of growing year after year in terms of what we’re
\nable to kind of offer and the places that we’ll be in. I think first and foremost, one
\nof, you know, the cornerstone of shift is really leveraging
\nsome some of the great work that’s already being done. Right. Shift is made possible by the incredible
\nwork that’s already being done, especially in the Longhorn Wellness Center. And they have, you know, a lot
\nof health promotion and prevention messaging like Bruce, the Bat and things that are coming out of their
\noffice quite frequently. You know, we have the Center for Students in Recovery. We have a
\nalcohol and other drug counselors and the counseling mental health center. So there’s a lot of really great work that’s
\nalready being done. So one thing is how can shift kind of leverage and elevate and amplify
\nwhat’s being done? So I think, you know, immediately some of that messaging, harm reduction messaging, you’re going to see
\nwhere we’re working with all of those partners I just named, as well as the voting fraternity life, for example, and during
\nround up. Right. So we’re working with a lot of partners and roundup not only to amplify
\nsome some messaging and engaging students and creating some of that messaging, but also,
\nyou know, working to get water distribution again and food distribution and maps. And how can
\nwe, you know, let students know where the resources are and kind of empower
\nthem with the information to make the decisions that are going to align with who they are and
\nwhere they’re going. You know, whatever that might be. And so I think at these events or these kind of potential opportunities,
\nan ACL, I think is another one that comes up. You know, how can we message
\nget the message to our students? And I think there’s a lot of different ways that we’re hoping to do that. And I
\nthink this is also where an an outstanding invitation to those students who sit might
\nsay, like, hey, you know why I would like to see you know, we would love to hear that.
\nAnd we actually we have a student advisory board that is made up of just some really incredible, passionate
\nstudents who do just that. It’s our advisory board. So they’re like, hey, do you know, you know,
\nthis thing or this is an opportunity for shift to get involved? And they’ve been really great. We actually
\nsorry, this is getting a little bit of an aside, but we have a vaping panel event
\nthat is on March 4th at 5:30 in the Texas Union. And that really sprung out of our
\nstudent advisory board saying, hey, there is so much talk around, you know, vaping
\nright now, but it’s just a lot of noise like we want to. Real questions answered. We want to know like this important
\ninformation. We want to ask our questions, how do we do that? And so from that sprouted this vaping
\npanel event that is taking place in a couple of weeks, which is a really great opportunity, again, for the
\nstudents and for the community to kind of join the conversation or get in this conversation about what
\nthat means for them and to be informed to make informed decisions. And so I think, you
\nknow, I hope you’ll see a lot more of that when it comes to South by Southwest and ACL and all these other things. That
\nshift will be a place that can initiate conversation that we can. And really, when I say initiate conversation,
\nit’s conversation without agenda. Right. Other than education and awareness. And at
\nthe core of it, we’re trying to cultivate a more mindful student when it comes to their decisions around substances.
\nSo in whatever way we can kind of have some of these conversations were all
\nabout it. And I think the great thing, because like you bring up right. Like Austin is a really unique
\nplace and that’s it. Right. It’s a magnet for some really cool, innovative
\nstuff. And there’s so much opportunity in that. And that’s
\nreally a gift for our students no matter what road they’re on or where they’re going. Right. We can always learn
\nby innovation or through innovation and shift being at its core, you know, an innovative
\nendeavor. I think we have a place and I think it is ever changing
\nin terms of what that might look like year to year. So you mentioned earlier that you all are grant
\nfunded wish if you can talk about that. Where’s your. Who all are you receiving your grant from?
\nSir. It’s the Hildebrand Foundation. And so there is an alum
\nconnection as well as a parent connection. And Mindy Hildebrand has been a really avid
\nsupporter and a lot of different ways when it comes to substance misuse, prevention
\nand shift as a really great gift for for all of us that
\nwe’ve been really excited about and continue to be. And then along that same line you met, you also mentioned
\nthat basically at the end of our end of 2022 that you all hope to
\nhave these indicators or these meaningful moves that you hope will have occurred over these last
\ncouple of years. What are those indicators like? What what what was success look like for
\nyou all in 2022? You will know you’re successful if what that
\nis such a great question. And that has been, I gotta say, one of the most fun questions that we’ve been marinating on
\nsince I got here. Right. Because I think we’re so tempted to grab like what
\none thing will indicate culture change. And when we talk about our culture, again, it’s not
\none dimensional, it’s not linear. It’s there isn’t one thing. Right. And so we talk about a lot of different things.
\nCertainly we’re looking at indicators such as instant incident reports. We are looking at substance
\nmisuse. You know, we’re hoping to see a decrease in substance misuse consequences.
\nAnd are the negative consequences associated with that, I should say. And so certainly we’re looking
\nat some of that quantitative details, right. Like we have the National College Health Assessment that we do every couple of
\nyears. We have baseline. We have a lot of a different assessment and evaluation
\nthings in place that are already going. But also some of that shift is is putting out there to
\nevaluate shift and kind of some of the some of these pilots that we’re launching. We’re also looking
\nat, you know, like what are ways that we measure culture? And that’s a really tricky question. And one of our shift donation
\nawards that we’ve granted is looking at the ethnography and looking at the culture
\nof substance use on campus and helping us kind of identify pockets where it where
\nit like what is the how does the picture change? Right. What will success look like? And actually, it’s funny.
\nI was in a class I was lecturing in a class last fall. And, you know, I kind of asked them the same question,
\nactually. I said, how will we know we’ve been successful? What will success look like? You know, like what will a shifted culture
\nlook like? I love that. And, you know, the students started kind of like conversing and saying,
\nwell, you know, like when you when there’s more sober parties. And I said, yeah. Tell me about that. What about what do you call
\na sober party? Because when you hear sober party, pretty much every student that kind of rolls her eyes. And I think maybe even I do, too,
\nyou know, like, what is that? What does that even mean? And so they really oh, maybe you call it a dry
\nparty or maybe you call it this. And they were really kind of, you know, hashing
\naway at this. Sorry. Pardon the pun. But kind of discussing the like, what would you call a sober
\nparty? And I kind of just posit I laughed and I said, well, how about just a party? I think I will know when
\na culture has shifted. When we when party is not just a verb to indicate substance
\nmisuse. Right. When a party is a social gathering to connect with our friends, to meet new people, to
\nhave a good time. And the assumption isn’t well, there’s obviously going to be substances
\nand copious amounts of substance substances. For me, that’s kind of what I hope to shift in
\nculture might bring. I love that. I loved the fact that you created that instead shifted
\nculture will know we have a shifted culture win. And I think that that is a big part
\nof it, too. We will be calling it a shift in culture rather than these huge
\ncultural change. Right. Like instead, it’s well, we have a shift in culture here at USC. And people
\nwill say, well, what does that mean? And then when people can articulate what a shifted culture means, that might be something
\nas well to think about, because if students are at are helping you. I love the fact that you
\nhave a student advisory board, and I also love the fact that they’re helping to contribute to
\nthis narrative, because a lot of times we do these initiatives and we’ll get going
\non them and then we’ll realize the adults in the room like this idea. It’s great. But what do the
\nstudents think? And so for the students listening to this podcast,
\nwhat what will what what does engagement look like for them as it relates to shift like one of those opportunities
\nthat exist for them to engage with you all in any of these initiatives
\nor these pilots that you all hire? What does that look like for the students that are listening? Yeah, well, I mean,
\nfor the students that are listening, please know that you are welcome as you are who you are. You know, no matter kind
\nof what your, you know, choices might be around substance, use it really. This is our
\ncommunity. And for shift to be successful, it has to be owned and run
\nby the students. You know, it is the students culture to shift. It is not mine.
\nYou know, it is not the administration’s. It is really up to the students. And we’re here with a lot of expertise and guidance
\nand resources. But I think if if it’s not coming from students,
\nit’s it’s a much steeper climb. And so I would really I love
\nstudents who who can bring their passion and their curiosity and even their like,
\nreally hard questions. Right. And skepticism. I’m. I can appreciate
\nsome good skepticism. Right. And so I think student involvement looks a lot of different ways. Certainly
\nthe advisory board is a very active place that that can guide the conversation, that can share the
\nconversation. I think what I’ve encountered is, is students have a hard time.
\nAnd I know I get it right. Like when you talk to students about, I think their high school experience, the conversation
\naround substance use is very different. So I think when we come to college, the there’s assumption
\nwhen there is substance misuse prevention that it is really promoting,
\nyou know, abstinence based or a very. Mental framework, and that’s really
\nnot what we’re about at all. All right. And I think that’s a shift in culture
\nthere that students are kind of getting acclimatized to that, that we’re
\nnot with an agenda in terms of what your choices are. Again, we’re wanting to cultivate more mindful decisions.
\nSo some and not only students, I think anyone I talked to about shift, they kind of understand
\non one end or the other. Right. They get kind of Yasui. We should address substance misuse
\nor we should really do a better job of supporting our students in recovery or who are living
\nwith substance use disorders or, you know. Yes, I get that you want to stop and end all substance
\nmisuse. And you know, the thing about shift is it really is a
\nwide umbrella and it spans all of that. And really, we’re looking at the students
\nwho, you know, whatever your choices might be, we’re we’re just trying to prompt some reflection and some mindfulness.
\nAnd I think when we talk about mental health and wellbeing. Right, it also
\nin substances are a part of that for anyone. Right. And your relationship
\nwith with substances doesn’t end in college. And I think that’s another sometimes a misperception
\nfor for some, right. That this is the time in my life when I am supposed to do substances, that’s when
\nI’m going to do it. And that’s, you know, then all when I get a real job, you know, like things will be different. Right.
\nAnd I think as we’re laughing. Right. Because I think I can say as an adult. Right. Like your relationship doesn’t end.
\nAnd I think especially in certain professions, there’s some expert expectation that,
\nyou know, networking or kind of building relationships, again, revolves around substance use. So
\nthis is a really it’s I’m getting really aside and on a tangent. But the conversation trying to come back
\nto two. What do students you know, what role do they play? They play a huge role in the success
\nof it. And so I think they can do that in a way that if they are someone who is
\nlistening. And next time you go to wherever you go to socialize and you may
\nor may not be thinking about, you know, engaging in substances, just that pause, you are a part
\nof shift and you are welcome here, you know. And if you are someone who wants to really prompt
\na conversation with your peers or with your, you know, organizations, you know,
\nplease come. Let’s let’s chat. And I think there’s ways, you know, through our pilot five and the technology.
\nYou know, we can talk about ways that you can become kind of an ambassador of some of this messaging. We can talk about ways
\nthat you can have conversations with your friends to kind of cultivate some more
\nmeaningful connection or deeper reflection there. There’s really so many ways that students
\ncan be involved that are both active and passive. But really, I think if you are a student
\nhere at u._t, you are a part of shift. You are part of this culture no matter what your decisions are
\nor aren’t for that matter. So, OK, why is why do you think that our
\nthe assumption that we often make about the college experience
\nis always rooted in abuse like. One of things I’ve always noticed is that
\nevery time there’s a conversation around substance use of love, the fact that throughout
\nthis entire conversation and all of my interactions with you have always been around is you
\nstick to the point of substance use and you never just jump to abuse. And why
\nis it that we immediately jumped to abuse or we only start
\ntrying to have these conversations reactively? A lot of the times,
\nonce once an incident has happened, once we’ve got an incident report or a
\nstudent has come in intoxicated or something, why is it that that’s the place we immediately
\ngo to when we start having these substance use conversations? Man, what a great question.
\nI don’t know if I know the answer. Exactly what your. Thanks. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I
\nthink there’s a lot of different ways we can look at that.
\nYou know that piece. Right. And I think why do we have this assumption? Substances
\nare so ingrained in college life, I think is a question that I hear from that.
\nAnd, you know, I think there’s a lot of cultural like college is such a microcosm
\nof the macro. Right. And so I think there’s we live in a bigger, wider culture
\nof, you know, of that has a whole conversation of its own.
\nBut I think the expectation has been for for college and I don’t know, I can
\nguess and kind of allude to some of why how it got to be what
\nit got to be. But, you know, I think in our wider culture,
\nwe’re often reactive. You know, I think prevention, the work of prevention is really challenging
\nbecause you can’t tangibly show what you prevent. Right. And so it’s sometimes a harder sell.
\nBut when something happens that’s negative, well, then everybody wants to know, well, what are you doing and how
\nare we responding to it? And, you know, I think that the field of prevention is.
\nI don’t know if it’s new, but it’s it’s, I think, gaining a wider kind
\nof knowledge base or a conversation base maybe because people are starting
\nto realize that, yeah, you know, there are some really what does prevention mean and prevention.
\nYes, it’s preventing, you know, substance misuse in the first place. But
\nwhat what does healthy behaviors look like? And seeing prevention as
\npart of a more holistic conversation, I think has been a positive move in
\nthe field. Right. And so I don’t. Again, that doesn’t really answer your question. And kind of I think,
\nyou know, where does this perception perception come from? I think that’s a really interesting conversation I have with students. A lot
\nof why do we just have this? Because when we look at the data. Right. And again, I’m sorry, this is
\nkind of another tangent. But when we look at the data of substance use on college campuses,
\nwhat we know is the perception is often different than the reality. And so that’s a conversation we’ll have with students.
\nA lot of why do you think that is like why is our perception that, you know, ninety six
\npercent of our students are drinking alcohol when really sixty nine percent of our students drink alcohol or
\nis 20 percent. And, you know, what is that jump about? And I think there’s a lot of historical
\nfactors in play. I think there is a lot of media, you know, that that kind of
\ncontribute Animal House. You know, I always use that as an example because it was pre-dates most
\nof our students and yet it is. Yet it’s the every fall poster sale. Right. You’ll
\nsee John Belushi and the college sweatshirt. So I think it’s like I imagined.
\nYeah, I guess I don’t know. I see him around. So I think all of that’s part of
\nit. I think family, you know, conversation and all of this stuff plays into it. So what we’re going
\nto do is take a quick break. We’ll be back to talk about the role of culture.
\nHey, this is Kate Lower. I’m the director of Shift. A brand new initiative here at U.T. aims to shift
\nthe culture of substance use on college campuses. So there’s been a lot of conversation about vaping
\nlately, and maybe you have some questions, too, like how much is too much or what
\nare some of the risks associated with or what is up with all that marketing? Come here
\nfrom some of the experts around campus. Talk about all those and more. Come and join us
\non March 4th at 5:30 p.m. and the Texas Union Quadrangle ROOM. You can also
\nsubmit your questions via chefs, social media, follow at U.T. shift and go to the
\nlink in the bio to submit your questions and be there on March 4th to talk about more.
\nOne of the things that our students are having questions about is related to vaping, because there’s
\nlots of advertisments out there and there’s lots of information then out of nowhere
\nin the fall. Certainly there was all this legislation to just stop in all vaping.
\nWhat’s up with that? Littlies listlessly tackled the
\nthe some kind of enquiry’s or what our students are feeling and
\nthe anxiety that some of them they may be feeling about vaping as much as you can. I come to the event,
\nthough. It’s it’s such an interesting conversation. And I think the reality is
\nthere is it’s vaping itself is so new that the what we know about it
\nis so limited. And so I think where the kind of like increase of
\naction and panic, if I can say that was really in response to some of
\nthese early research articles kind of being published and more information starting to come out
\nand the Eveillard deaths and instances related to Evalyn. You know,
\nI wish I could remember exactly what you valli’s stood for. It’s like electronic.
\nI’m gonna I’m gonna mess it up. But it is the respiratory kind of issues related with with excessive
\nvaping. And so that has caused a lot of
\nconversation to go and rightfully so. Right. And I think I think it was one of those
\nmoments because originally when vaping came, came out or kind of e-cigarettes came out
\nper the kind of what are
\nthey called? Per the I don’t want to name any names. I’m trying not to get Billig, obviously,
\nyou know, when they when these devices came out, they were really marketed as being
\na harm reduction tool. So someone who was looking to quit smoking. This was seen as
\nless harmful as you know, than cigarets. And so
\na way to reduce, you know, if someone was trying to quit smoking cigarets.
\nAnd so I think people kind of really took to that as like, oh,
\nwell, they’re less harmful. And I think, you know, not to get too off subject
\nhere, but but especially with cannabis, which is another kind of focused mind that
\nI talk about a lot and Stewart have a lot of questions about. Right. Just because it’s less something is less harmful
\ndoesn’t mean it’s harmless. Right. And so with e-cigarettes and vaping, it became
\nthat kind of became the the perception, right. That, well, if they’re less harmful than like they’re not bad and I
\ncan kind of indulge or I can use them. And because they’re actually so
\nconvenient in some ways. Right. That they become very accessible and easy to use.
\nSome of the marketing early on was was definitely well I should I shouldn’t say definitely
\nwas suggested to be, you know, geared toward
\nyouth audience or younger audience. And so now, of course, a lot of our students who maybe
\neither started using in high school and are continuing or maybe they just started using, you know, e-cigarettes
\nand vapes and things on college. You know, there’s been a lot of people who have tried to cut down
\nor quit and have had a really hard time doing so. And so now they’re looking for resources or
\nI think there’s a lot of questions about the perceptions of like, well, wait, I thought it wasn’t quite as harmful for you.
\nBut, you know, the iPod one pod is is equal to, I think, a pack of cigarets.
\nAnd so how you know, how many pools are a little bit different? You know, it’s not really apples
\nto apples. You know, it’s a different comparison. It’s a different it’s a different thing. And, you know, anything that we put
\ninto our body. Right. Is going to have some sort of effect. And so now we’re just starting to learn what some of those
\neffects are. And there’s still a lot of questions out there, which is why,
\nyou know, I know a lot about most substances, but I’m really exciting for this vape, for excited
\nfor this vaping panel, because we have, you know, these just ridiculously smart people
\nfrom around U.T. that are going to talk about marketing. They’re going to talk about kind of youth and
\nuse and policy and things like that. So hopefully we can have a more robust
\ndiscussion and a deeper understanding of not only what is the issue or issues related
\nwith e-cigarettes and vaping, but what does that mean for you and what
\nhow can that kind of inform your own kind of decisions or relationship with vaping?
\nSo you said a lot about culture and I want to make sure that we don’t overlook that. You
\nknow, I come from the generation of Joe Cool, not Joe Cool with Joe Camel. Joe
\nCool, too, because I’m a Snoopy fan. But Schultz was the reason why I started
\ndrawing in the first place. But Joe Camel, Spuds Mackenzie.
\nMy grandmother was a smoker. My grandfather, up until I was about eight or nine,
\nwas a cigar smoker as well. And so neither of my parents smoked by. I
\njust remember all I can remember all the advertisments. I can tell
\nyou about the mob man, all those different things. What is the role of not just the marketing
\nand promotion, but what role does culture play in how we view those
\nthings? Yeah, I mean, I opinion I think in my opinion.
\nWe are all part of a culture like we, whether you like, in whatever way you participate. Right.
\nWe are all part of a community. At least that’s what that’s what I believe. I think we’re part of a U.T. community. We’re part of a Texas community,
\nand we’re part of an American community and beyond. Right. And so
\nrecognizing right like that might not all of us, I think, feel connected
\nto that community in different ways. We all have different experiences. Right. Some of us feel more accepted into that community.
\nOther of us feel more marginalized. So I want to be clear that to to validate that there are
\nvery different experiences of what it means to be connected to a culture or a community
\nfor that matter. So that being said, right, the idea of popular culture
\nor the way that we consume things, there is a universal reality to it
\nthat that we see things and we’re hearing similar conversations.
\nSo I think all of those things influence are our decisions are kind of perceptions
\nof things. And, you know, I think we are we value our communities, however we
\ndefine that. And so what we see in our communities certainly influences
\nour behavior and our world view and our perspective. And, you know, certainly we all come together
\nat U.T. and share a lot of wide perspectives that that may be similar and maybe really
\ndifferent. But certainly there’s a universal conversation that we can have in a robust way.
\nAnd that I think is also respectful of that. Awesome. What
\nbit of advice or what suggestions would you have for any students that are listening?
\nAnd they’re trying they’re trying to make sense of
\ntheir rep, their relationship with substances no matter what? No, because I don’t
\nwant to say positive or negative, but the relationship with substance use, what
\nsuggestions do you have for any student that’s listening this trying to figure out, you know,
\nhow how how they’re gonna what relationship they’re going to have with substances,
\nespecially if I’m a freshman and I know people that drink
\nevery weekend and they’re under age or I know that I’m going to I’ve been going to parties
\nand it’s always offered and I’m always turning it down. But it’s everywhere I go.
\nWhat advice or suggestions would you give to those students? Yeah, we’re trying to
\nhave a shifted mindset. Yeah. I mean, I think I think there’s so much I think first and foremost. Right.
\nMy my hope is that you are able to kind of sit and reflect with again
\nwho you are and where you’re going and that you make decisions that are aligned with exactly that your values.
\nAnd, you know, hopefully you are able to find your your people who share similar
\nvalues, who are going to respect to that. And and that the the pressure
\nthat in order to socialize or have friends, that we can break that that assumption down
\na little bit. Right. Because it’s I don’t think that’s that’s true. I don’t think you you need those
\nto connect. I don’t think most people feel really are feel connected to you are not connected
\nto you based on your decision of how much you drink, even though it feels that way. It definitely I think that feeling
\nis very real. So there’s a couple of things. There’s a couple of like nerdy science things
\nthat I want people to know. Right. And and we talk about this a lot when we talk about substance use by our brain
\nis fully developed, right. Not until the age of 25. And the prefrontal cortex is the last thing to develop.
\nAnd that’s really at the very front of the brain. And that’s responsible for, you know, decision making
\njudgments. You know, our thought processes, all this high critical, you know, kind of thought processes.
\nAnd so because that’s the last thing to develop and it develops at 25 developmentally, mentally. Right.
\nStudents are kind of at this place where it’s that the critical
\nthought and theory and judgment isn’t necessarily the first thing to fire when we come to substance use. So
\nI think there’s something that that’s totally normal if it feels like that’s what you’re gravitating toward. And that’s kind of
\nlike this is this, I’m doing this and whether it’s a greater deal or not. Right. Like
\nthere’s something developmental going on. But that being said, right, because your brain is still
\ndeveloping, cultivating some of these mindful pauses. Right. Is just setting you up.
\nYou’re flexing that muscle. It’s like working out, like you’re making it stronger. And so that pause, I
\nthink, is important not only for decisions around substance use, but just decisions in life. Right. Like how do you take care of
\nyourself if you’re noticing that you are feeling disregulated, whether it’s, you know, you’re feeling anxious
\nor maybe a little bit lonely or just having a rough time with the transition
\nthat. You know, really taking care of yourself, whatever that means for you, is
\na really important skill to learn not only throughout college but beyond. So I guess that would
\nbe one thought or piece of advice would be the relationship that you make with
\nsubstance use now. Right. In college? Well, often
\ncan help dictate what your relationship is long term. And so I think
\nfor some students who are gravitating toward using substances out
\nof response for, you know, some emotional
\nhealth. Right. Like if they’re feeling stressed or anxious or lonely or whatever it might be.
\nAnd they find that’s kind of the motivation behind their use. Well, sometimes that
\nworks in the short term. It’s not often. It’s never really a long term solution. And so the more that
\nwe can kind of work to have this holistic conversation or kind of work to make these decisions
\nthat are, you know, kind of aligned with who you are and where you’re going. You’re it’s
\nit’s a skill that you’re gonna take beyond college and in a really meaningful way. Well,
\nawesome. Well, that’s all the time we have for today’s episode. Katie, I want to thank you for coming. I say,
\nKatie, thank you. Thank you for coming by and talking with this. For those students
\nand faculty and staff that are listening, who have some additional questions or they want to learn more about
\nshift. How can people get in contact with you and find out more about shift? Yeah, I think our Web site’s a great
\nplace, so to learn more. So shift at you. Texas dot e._d._u. Engage with us on social media.
\nWe’re on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at U.T. Shift. And you can also, you know,
\nalways email shift at Austin, Texas like you to you any and all of those ways.
\nWe’ll be sure to get back to you. And we’d love to join in the conversation. Thank you
\nvery much. Harry Qaid it. We hope you enjoy today’s episode to catch
\nthe next installment. Be sure to follow us on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts
\nand Stitcher. This podcast was recorded and edited in collaboration with the L.A.
\ni.g.’s Development Studios Audio Department. More information can be found at Liberal Arts.
\nYou Texas. e._d._u. Slash L.A. i_d_s. The intro song was composed
\nby Ian Herrera and you can find his work at Ian Herrera dot com. The outro song
\nwas composed by Noah Keller and you can find more of his work at Noah D. Color dot com.
\nWe’ll see you next time.<\/p>\n"},"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2022\/03\/LIVE-logo-TPN.png","download_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-download\/17\/episode-2-kate-lower-director-of-shift.mp3","player_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-player\/17\/episode-2-kate-lower-director-of-shift.mp3","audio_player":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-player\/17\/episode-2-kate-lower-director-of-shift.mp3<\/a><\/audio>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/feed\/podcast\/live","embedCode":"

Episode 2 – Kate Lower, Director of SHIFT<\/a><\/blockquote>