2008 Woodie Awards
Committee lists goals for assault prevention
Austin Fast
Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: Campus
Working since a report was released in December 2006, Miami University's sexual assault committee is still searching for a part-time administrative coordinator and is working to release a brochure on sexual assault awareness to first-year students next fall.
Jane Goettsch, director of Miami's Women's Center, explained that the hiring procedure for a part-time position to coordinate all sexual assault education efforts on campus is highly complex and is currently underway, although interviews have not yet begun.
"My understanding is that we are developing the job description and getting the formal process started," Goettsch said. "Our goal would be to have someone in the position by the start of fall semester, if not earlier."
One of the main reasons for this recommendation is the committee's lack of time to devote solely to education and prevention strategies. According to Goettsch, some of the committee members also have full-time careers in addition to their responsibilities as a member.
"The committee realizes that they can't do it all," Goettsch said. "Unfortunately, things just take time. These committee members all have full-time jobs, so we are not able to devote a 40-hour week to work on these things. It's frustrating for all of us because things seem like they take longer than they should."
Richard Nault, vice president for student affairs, said that the university has not yet advertised for the position of the sexual assault education coordinator because the committee wanted to first make progress with the short-term goals. He said that by early May, an advertisement about the position would go out, and that he wants the position to be filled by August when students return to campus.
According to Goettsch, the committee was formed in response to a report issued by the Miami University Sexual Assault Task Force in December 2006.
Co-chaired by Goettsch and Susan Vaughn, the director of the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution, Goettsch said that the 10-member committee also includes two student representatives, seven Miami staff members and one community member, Becky Perkins, who is also the executive director of the Butler County Rape Crisis Program, located uptown at 110 S. College Ave.
"(Sexual assault) is an issue that all college campuses face," Goettsch said. "We don't want anyone to be sexually assaulted, so by putting programming and information in place, we hope to allow students to keep themselves safer. We also don't live in a perfect world, so we have to keep the response piece in place as well."
Goettsch explained that the committee meets every three weeks to discuss the recommendations issued in the report from December.
"The task group was our predecessor," Goettsch said. "They issued the report in December and prioritized those recommendations into two categories: immediate steps and long range goals. We address and try to make progress on the immediate steps at meetings as they are our highest priority."
Michael Stevenson, assistant to the president and associate provost of academic affairs, said that the recommendations of the committee were consistent with one another and very "doable."
Nault said that, after taking input from committee members and the community, the committee is now in a stage where it is focusing on getting things done.
"Sometimes I think we do too much gathering and not enough doing," Nault said.
He said the committee has a meeting Thursday, during which more information on the committee's progress will be presented to members by Goettsch, and that the committee will continue to meet in the fall semester of 2007.
Stevenson said that the speed at which the committee has accomplished its goals is impressive.
"These tasks will be done in the next few weeks," he said. "You can't ask for anything faster than that. It is very rarely that you get that kind of quick response."
The committee has been focusing on three separate tasks for the current semester including a brochure to be handed out at summer orientation programs to incoming first-year students, a "one-stop Web site" that completely educates and provides complete resources for people looking for help with sexual assault issues, and reviewing the training needs of many university personnel.
According to Goettsch, the committee is currently revising former sexual assault brochures and working to improve them.
"The brochure is an attempt to pull together information from a variety of sources," Goettsch said. "There will not necessarily be new information, but the information there will be more informative and comprehensive. This will simply be the first exposure. Once students arrive on campus, additional programs and reminders of the information will build upon it."
Stevenson said that while the brochure could help inform incoming first-years as to the resources available if they're ever in a sexual assault situation, he hopes the committee will continue to implement other resources for students.
"If that's the only thing we're doing, I'd be very disappointed," Stevenson said.
The second immediate task is to design a complete Web site that complements the brochures and fully educates the Miami
University community on issues regarding sexual assault.
"The Web site is in development," Goettsch said. "A student is working on it to design it. We hope it will be up and live by the time summer orientation will begin so that after reading the brochure, someone would be able to find more information on the new Web site."
Christopher Hill, a senior mass communications student, is currently creating the Web site.
Goettsch says a colleague from the Office of Student Affairs highly recommended him for the project.
The third task the committee is working on is providing more complete training to university offices and personnel, such as summer orientation leaders and resident assistants, so that they feel more comfortable in responding and assisting victims.
"We want to help offices that have some connection with this issue or may have a survivor come to them," Goettsch said. "We want those offices to have some written procedure to respond
sensitively and informatively to sexual assault survivors."
Goettsch feels frustrated by the amount of time that their immediate goals have been taking to complete, and credits that to the scope and size of their projects.
"There are some incredible logistical problems when you are trying to reach the entire first-year class," Goettsch said. "We have to make sure the information is accurate, consistent with university policy, find a graphic artist, go through proofs, and get it (brochures) printed."
Goettsch also admits that distributing brochures and advertising the informative Web site are rather passive ways of raising awareness, but she says that they are not the only methods used on campus.
"They push the information out to students," Goettsch said. "We all know that by itself, the brochures are not likely to have much of an impact, but they are part of a more comprehensive approach.
Some more active ways of informing students are through the MARS (Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault) and HAWKS (Health Advocates for Wellness Knowledge and Skills) programs."
MARS and HAWKS are both student-led peer education groups at Miami, which work to raise awareness of sexual assault.
"Peer education is a more active type of programming that the brochure and Web site are designed to complement," Goettsch said.
In the fall, Nault said that the second tier of the committee's plans, the long-term goals, would begin to be implemented.
He said these efforts include training and further education of Miami students, faculty, and staff that would be built around the philosophy of the incoming coordinator.
Nault assured that the problem of sexual assault on campus would not be solved after a short period of time.
"Sexual violence is a problem on campus we're not going to end (quickly) … We're going to keep following (this issue) next fall," Nault said.
Stevenson said there will be more changes to come in the upcoming years, but they will be determined when the part-time coordinator position is filled.
Additional reporting contributed by Laura Houser and
Kellyn Moran.
Jane Goettsch, director of Miami's Women's Center, explained that the hiring procedure for a part-time position to coordinate all sexual assault education efforts on campus is highly complex and is currently underway, although interviews have not yet begun.
"My understanding is that we are developing the job description and getting the formal process started," Goettsch said. "Our goal would be to have someone in the position by the start of fall semester, if not earlier."
One of the main reasons for this recommendation is the committee's lack of time to devote solely to education and prevention strategies. According to Goettsch, some of the committee members also have full-time careers in addition to their responsibilities as a member.
"The committee realizes that they can't do it all," Goettsch said. "Unfortunately, things just take time. These committee members all have full-time jobs, so we are not able to devote a 40-hour week to work on these things. It's frustrating for all of us because things seem like they take longer than they should."
Richard Nault, vice president for student affairs, said that the university has not yet advertised for the position of the sexual assault education coordinator because the committee wanted to first make progress with the short-term goals. He said that by early May, an advertisement about the position would go out, and that he wants the position to be filled by August when students return to campus.
According to Goettsch, the committee was formed in response to a report issued by the Miami University Sexual Assault Task Force in December 2006.
Co-chaired by Goettsch and Susan Vaughn, the director of the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution, Goettsch said that the 10-member committee also includes two student representatives, seven Miami staff members and one community member, Becky Perkins, who is also the executive director of the Butler County Rape Crisis Program, located uptown at 110 S. College Ave.
"(Sexual assault) is an issue that all college campuses face," Goettsch said. "We don't want anyone to be sexually assaulted, so by putting programming and information in place, we hope to allow students to keep themselves safer. We also don't live in a perfect world, so we have to keep the response piece in place as well."
Goettsch explained that the committee meets every three weeks to discuss the recommendations issued in the report from December.
"The task group was our predecessor," Goettsch said. "They issued the report in December and prioritized those recommendations into two categories: immediate steps and long range goals. We address and try to make progress on the immediate steps at meetings as they are our highest priority."
Michael Stevenson, assistant to the president and associate provost of academic affairs, said that the recommendations of the committee were consistent with one another and very "doable."
Nault said that, after taking input from committee members and the community, the committee is now in a stage where it is focusing on getting things done.
"Sometimes I think we do too much gathering and not enough doing," Nault said.
He said the committee has a meeting Thursday, during which more information on the committee's progress will be presented to members by Goettsch, and that the committee will continue to meet in the fall semester of 2007.
Stevenson said that the speed at which the committee has accomplished its goals is impressive.
"These tasks will be done in the next few weeks," he said. "You can't ask for anything faster than that. It is very rarely that you get that kind of quick response."
The committee has been focusing on three separate tasks for the current semester including a brochure to be handed out at summer orientation programs to incoming first-year students, a "one-stop Web site" that completely educates and provides complete resources for people looking for help with sexual assault issues, and reviewing the training needs of many university personnel.
According to Goettsch, the committee is currently revising former sexual assault brochures and working to improve them.
"The brochure is an attempt to pull together information from a variety of sources," Goettsch said. "There will not necessarily be new information, but the information there will be more informative and comprehensive. This will simply be the first exposure. Once students arrive on campus, additional programs and reminders of the information will build upon it."
Stevenson said that while the brochure could help inform incoming first-years as to the resources available if they're ever in a sexual assault situation, he hopes the committee will continue to implement other resources for students.
"If that's the only thing we're doing, I'd be very disappointed," Stevenson said.
The second immediate task is to design a complete Web site that complements the brochures and fully educates the Miami
University community on issues regarding sexual assault.
"The Web site is in development," Goettsch said. "A student is working on it to design it. We hope it will be up and live by the time summer orientation will begin so that after reading the brochure, someone would be able to find more information on the new Web site."
Christopher Hill, a senior mass communications student, is currently creating the Web site.
Goettsch says a colleague from the Office of Student Affairs highly recommended him for the project.
The third task the committee is working on is providing more complete training to university offices and personnel, such as summer orientation leaders and resident assistants, so that they feel more comfortable in responding and assisting victims.
"We want to help offices that have some connection with this issue or may have a survivor come to them," Goettsch said. "We want those offices to have some written procedure to respond
sensitively and informatively to sexual assault survivors."
Goettsch feels frustrated by the amount of time that their immediate goals have been taking to complete, and credits that to the scope and size of their projects.
"There are some incredible logistical problems when you are trying to reach the entire first-year class," Goettsch said. "We have to make sure the information is accurate, consistent with university policy, find a graphic artist, go through proofs, and get it (brochures) printed."
Goettsch also admits that distributing brochures and advertising the informative Web site are rather passive ways of raising awareness, but she says that they are not the only methods used on campus.
"They push the information out to students," Goettsch said. "We all know that by itself, the brochures are not likely to have much of an impact, but they are part of a more comprehensive approach.
Some more active ways of informing students are through the MARS (Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault) and HAWKS (Health Advocates for Wellness Knowledge and Skills) programs."
MARS and HAWKS are both student-led peer education groups at Miami, which work to raise awareness of sexual assault.
"Peer education is a more active type of programming that the brochure and Web site are designed to complement," Goettsch said.
In the fall, Nault said that the second tier of the committee's plans, the long-term goals, would begin to be implemented.
He said these efforts include training and further education of Miami students, faculty, and staff that would be built around the philosophy of the incoming coordinator.
Nault assured that the problem of sexual assault on campus would not be solved after a short period of time.
"Sexual violence is a problem on campus we're not going to end (quickly) … We're going to keep following (this issue) next fall," Nault said.
Stevenson said there will be more changes to come in the upcoming years, but they will be determined when the part-time coordinator position is filled.
Additional reporting contributed by Laura Houser and
Kellyn Moran.
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