By Tabitha Redder/managing editor
The district released a new online training module for students and faculty last week.
The module will inform users about gender discrimination, sexual assault and other types of violence covered in the Title IX amendment.
“We’ve known about this for many years in terms of discrimination in athletics, but it’s really much broader,” associate vice chancellor for human resources Ricardo Coronado said.
The training course complies with a number of laws, including the Education Amendments of 1972 and the more recent Violence Against Women Act of 2013.
“It talks about how drugging a drink is really a crime,” Coronado said. “Keeping control of drinks at all times may not be necessary, but it’s an affirmative way to prevent date rape drugs from being added.”
It also includes bystander intervention and reporting methods.
“That’s what we’re really looking at in this course,” he said. “Alerting people how to report it, who do we report it to, and if it happens to them, what do they do.”
The district has created deputy directors on each campus in charge of questions or concerns.
“It’s a 90-minute module connected to your college ID,” NE deputy Title IX director Kateeka Harris said. “It’s very colorful and engaging.”
The course will take users through a series of slides and scenarios and instructs on what to do if the situation happens to them or if they see it happen. It can be completed in segments, and its duration depends on the user’s reading rate.
“We’re encouraging as many students as possible to become familiar with Title IX because it affects your rights and ability to have information in the event that you become a victim,” Harris said. “I think there are a lot of students who may have seen it or experienced it and not known what to do.”
NW student Ross Ocampo had positive feedback about the module.
“I would totally look at it,” he said. “I think it’s good to encourage awareness on sexual violence and for others to call people out on it too.”
Students are encouraged to complete the module by May 8.
