Reporters and coordinators of Title IX (nine) continue to prepare themselves and the student body with upcoming and recent training events.
According to the Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, Title IX states that, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational programs or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Resident Assistants, faculty and other authorized individuals are labeled as mandatory reporters under the eyes of the Title IX coordinators.
Robert Pool, vice president of student affairs and student Title IX coordinator, has been working with other fellow coordinators and the Ashland police department to continue updating training sessions and follow the act accordingly.
“There’s an entire battery of training our staff goes through,” Pool said. “Title IX deputy coordinators participate in an overview of our policies to refresh them on our policies and process. We did a session this fall with our police department, where we went over some of our processes when we receive a sexual assault or misconduct case.”
The bulk of most training sessions happens online with the exception of pulling in different speakers like Holly Liebhart, the Safe Haven campus advocate.
“The Title IX Training that I have assisted with thus far have been “It’s On Us” Trainings, during Freshman Success Seminar (FSS) and a presentation during FSL 101,” Liebhart said. “During these training sessions, I introduce myself and explain the services that Safe Haven provides to survivors of trauma both on and off campus.”
Safe Haven is a crisis and domestic violence center that offers shelter and related services to Ashland residents. Often facilitators come and present on campus to new students or newer reporters.
Liebhart said, “I generally have a few slides within the presentation that encompass both these services and my role specifically on campus. I transition into the Title IX portion of the presentation and the other facilitators resume presenting. During the FSL 101 training, I was able to develop and facilitate a presentation specifically regarding Title IX, Sexual Misconduct and Campus Advocacy.”
While also having the regularly scheduled training sessions, there is also embedded training that began last year in April during Sexual Assault Awareness Week, hosted by Elevate.
“Mostly it’s about raising awareness,” Pool said. “For individuals who’ve experienced sexual assault, and just to raise awareness about the community in general, that this happens, and it’s not just regulated to a few obscure cases across our campus. It’s more widespread than that.”
If students ever find themselves in a crisis or in need of support please message 4hope to 741741.