Goddard Health Center's Counseling and Testing Services advertises that it can perform alcohol assessments and help students with alcohol problems, but the center does not employ a certified drug and alcohol counselor, according to OU records.

None of the employees of Counseling and Testing Services at Goddard in the 2004-05 operating budget were listed with the Oklahoma Drug and Alcohol Professional Counselor Certification Board.

H.N. ?Sonny? Scott, executive director of the Norman Alcohol Information Center, said the lack of a certified counselor could mean students with alcohol problems are not getting appropriate help. Scott said the NAIC has not seen many official referrals from OU recently, though it does see some OU students on a walk-in basis.

?OU should be hiring a certified drug and alcohol counselor as a part of their staff or they should be referring people to an agency like the NAIC who has certified drug and alcohol counselors,? Scott said.

Michael Daves, associate director of counseling and testing services at Goddard, said in an e-mail that students can speak to a general counselor about alcohol-related problems.

?OU Counseling and Testing Services provides drug and alcohol assessment, drug and alcohol prevention and education and also individual counseling to students struggling with alcohol and drug abuse,? Daves said.

Goddard also provides prevention programming coordinated by a new counselor hired with funds provided by the Student Activity Fee Committee earlier this year, Daves said.

Justin Blythe, who was a freshman at OU last year, said he couldn?t see an alcohol-specific counselor at OU when he decided to get counseling for his alcohol problem.

?As far as on campus, right there in front of you, there?s not too much available, I don?t believe,? Blythe said.

He said he went to one of Goddard?s counselors for help with other personal problems that contributed to his alcohol habit, but he wasn?t able to see a drug and alcohol counselor until he went home to Dallas after the spring semester.

?The counseling [at Goddard] isn?t too bad, but if they had an alcohol-specific counselor, that would be a lot better,? Blythe said. ?There are things that alcohol-specific counseling gives you that regular counseling doesn?t.?

Scott said certified drug and alcohol counselors must complete 300 hours of education and training and more than 2,000 hours of practical experience before they can take the certification exam. He said this type of intensive focus on the area of substance abuse allows certified drug and alcohol counselors to provide more specific help to people with alcohol problems than licensed professional counselors.

?A regular counselor may be more of an expert in mental health issues but not in drug and alcohol counseling,? Scott said.

He said non-certified counselors who treat students for alcohol problems are working outside of their license.

Dennis Auld, executive director of the Oklahoma Drug and Alcohol Professional Counselor Certification Board, said a recently passed state law will require drug and alcohol counselors to become licensed next year.

?At that point, then it becomes a legal issue if people are providing drug and alcohol counseling without being certified,? Auld said.

Auld said there is an exception in state licensing law for state employees, which includes OU staff. He said OU counselors could still legally provide alcohol counseling without being certified, but he said he thinks alcohol is such a large problem at universities that having counselors become certified in the area would be a good idea.