Greetings NCHERM clients and e-list subscribers. We hope you have been enjoying your summer. Ours has been both productive and relaxing, and we are looking forward to the semester ahead.

This list is used 4-6 times a year to send you our free newsletter, updating you on news from the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management. You should have received our first Newsletter in late March of 2003, unless you have only recently joined our mailing list.

To be unsubscribed, please e-mail info@ncherm.org and ask to be unsubscribed. We will take your e-mail address off our list immediately.

As with each NCHERM Newsletter, we include a free article for your use. Please find that article below. Feel free to copy it, forward it and share with your colleagues if you find it useful.

NCHERM IS PLEASED TO INTRODUCE OUR NEWEST STAFF MEMBER

Hopefully, many of you will soon get to know NCHERM’s new Director of Client Relations in the coming year. Cori M. Sokolow, M.Ed. not only has a new career as of this summer, but a new husband as well. Cori will be working with me full-time at NCHERM, helping to ensure that we are attentive to the needs of our growing number of clients. Believe it or not, NCHERM has now worked with over 250 different colleges since we began serving institutions of higher education in January of 2000.

SEXUAL ASSAULT 101 CD-ROM DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

By now, you’ve probably heard about our new CD-ROM, Sexual Assault 101. But, you probably haven’t seen it. A ten minute demo of this dynamic and innovative 30-minute course is available at www.lifelessonsonline.com (Brett, I cannot find this website)

Give our cutting-edge, cost-effective approach to educating your students about sexual assault a try today.

CONFERENCE NEWS

Brett Sokolow will be presenting at a number of national and regional conferences in the fall of 2003.

Look for his presentations coming up at:

• URMIA 2003 Annual Conference—The University Risk Management and Insurance Association. September 21st and 22nd, 2003 in New Orleans. Brett will present a concurrent session on risk management in student affairs on the 22nd.
• ASJA Circuit 1 Drive-in Judicial Training Conference. Saturday, October 4th at Bentley College in Waltham, MA. Brett will present on legal liability issues in campus judicial affairs, 2002-2003.
• Safe Schools 2003—Orlando, Florida. October 23rd-25th, 2003. Brett will present a concurrent session, “Drunk Sex or Date Rape: Can You Tell the Difference?” and he will also be a panelist at the closing Plenary session.
• 2003 Higher Education Law & Policy Institute, San Diego, CA. November 16th-18th 2003. Brett will present three concurrent sessions: The Standard of Proof in Date Rape and Sexual Assault Cases; Strategies for Successful Adjudication of Campus Conduct Violations; Deploying Risk Management Strategies Effectively Within Student Affairs.
• Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault Regional Conference. Friday, November 14th, 2003.
• TKKI Regional Sexual Assault Conference, PA. Thursday, December 4th, 2003.

Brett also looks forward to seeing all of you at spring conferences, including ASJA 2004, Stetson Law & Higher Education 2004, ACPA 2004 and NASPA 2004.

FALL 2003 JUDICIAL TRAINING ACADEMY SITES:

NCHERM is sponsoring eight regional Judicial Decision-maker Training Academies in the fall of 2003. The sites include (click each location to download a .PDF file with details and registration materials):

1. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2003 WOODBURY UNIVERSITY (CA)
2. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2003 COLLEGE OF ST. BENEDICT/ ST. JOHNS UNIVERSITY (MN)
3. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2003 GOUCHER COLLEGE (MD)
4. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2003 TULANE UNIVERSITY (LA)
5. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH, 2003 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIV. (NJ)
6. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3RD, 2003 TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY (KY)
7. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8th, 2003 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY (GA)
8. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH, 2003 KENYON COLLEGE (OH)

We are also planning four regional academies for the spring of 2004. One will be in Philadelphia, immediately preceding the 2004 ACPA Conference. If you’re coming to ACPA, plan ahead to add a day for our Academy. A second Academy will take place in New England. The other two locations have yet to be finalized. Florida and Michigan are my top choices, and if your campus would like to host, please let us know.

FALL 2003 PROGRAM SCHEDULE:

Brett is probably coming to a college near you this fall. If you would like to schedule a program for your students on sexual assault and/or problem drinking when he is already nearby, check the schedule below. Also, please keep our pricing policy in mind. We know that your programming budgets are tight this year, but we pride ourselves on being able to work with colleges of varying budget sizes, and we promise to do our best to make our programs affordable to you. Dates are still available:

Friday, August 15th, 2003 Tusculum College (TN)
Thursday, August 21st, 2003 University of Tampa (FL)
Sunday, August 24th, 2003 University of Charleston (WVa.)
Monday, August 25th, 2003 Loras College (IA)
Tuesday, August 26th, 2003 The Colorado College (CO)
Wednesday, August 27th, 2003 Tulane University (LA)
Thursday, August 28th, 2003 Hampshire College (MA)
Friday, August 29th, 2003 Seton Hall Univ. (NJ)
Saturday, August 30th, 2003 Bentley College (MA)
Sunday, August 31st, 2003 Univ. of San Diego (CA)
Monday, September 1st, 2003 Emerson College (MA)
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2003 Carthage College (WI)
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2003 St. Norbert College (WI)
Thursday, September 4th, 2003 Univ. of Wisconsin, Eau Claire (WI)
Friday, September 5th, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., CA
Wednesday, September 10th, 2003 Central College and Clarke College (IA)
Friday, September 12th, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., MN
Monday, September 15th, 2003 Fontbonne College (MO)
Wednesday, September 17th, 2003 St. Joseph’s Univ. (PA)
Thursday, September 18th, 2003 Goucher College (MD)
Friday, September 19th, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., MD
Sun. & Mon., September 21 & 22, 2003 URMIA Annual Conference, LA
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., LA
Thursday, September 25th, 2003 Lehigh Univ. (PA)
Friday, September 26th, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., NJ
Thursday, October 2nd, 2003 Transylvania Univ. (KY)
Friday, October 3rd, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., KY
Saturday, October 4th, 2002 ASJA Circuit 1 Drive-in Training, MA
Monday, October 6th, 2003 Office closed
Tue. & Wed., October 7 & 8, 2003 Georgia State University (GA)
Wednesday, October 8th, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., GA
Friday, October 10th, 2003 Thomas Jefferson University (PA)
Monday, October 13th, 2003 University of Delaware (DE)
Monday, October 13th, 2003 Cherry Hill High School East (NJ)
Monday, October 13th, 2003 Cherry Hill High School West (NJ)
Thursday, October 16th, 2003 Palmer College of Chiropractic (IA)
Monday, October 20th, 2003 Penn State Univ., Delaware Cty. (PA)
Tuesday, October 21st, 2003 Rose Hulman Institute of Tech. (IN)
October 23rd - 26th, 2003 Safe Schools Conference (FL)
Wednesday, October 29th, 2003 Azusa Pacific Univ. (CA)
Friday, November 7th, 2003 NCHERM Judicial Training Acad., OH
Friday, November 14th, 2003 MD Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Sun. – Tues., November 16-18th, 2003 Higher Ed. Law & Policy Institute (CA)
Thursday, December 4th, 2003 TKKI Sexual Assault Conference (PA)
Monday, December 8th, 2003 Rutger’s Prep. (NJ)
Tuesday, December 9th, 2003 Lawrenceville School (NJ)
Monday, December 15th, 2003 Sidwell Friends School (DC)

FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS

Summer is always a busy writing time, and this one has been no exception. Look for two new chapters by Brett Sokolow to be published in the coming year:

• “Proactive Violence Prevention for Colleges and Universities” to be published as a chapter in Volume 6 of The Workplace Violence Prevention Guide (Specialty Technical Publishers, 2004 publication forthcoming).
• “Risk Management for Community Colleges” in Legal Issues in the Community College (New Directions for Community Colleges, Jossey-Bass, 2004 publication forthcoming).

Regards,

Brett A. Sokolow, JD
Risk Management Consultant
NCHERM
20 Callery Way
Malvern, PA 19355
Telephone: (610) 993-0229
Facsimile: (610) 993-0228
www.ncherm.org

Who’s Helping Whom: Are Our Sexual Assault Response Protocols Working?

By: Brett A. Sokolow, JD

The prevailing model for victimization-response on most college campuses is to designate a small number of people who are well-trained in sexual assault victim’s services, and to direct all victims and others on campus who need assistance to those well-trained individuals. Often, they are accessible 24/7 via cellular telephones, to provide assistance to all who call. The problem is, on so many of our campuses, very few people ever call. And mostly, we’ve resigned ourselves to the under-utilization of these resources and the reality that few victims of sexual violence will ever actually choose to report it. As I’m apt to do, I think it’s time to question this model, and to challenge whether it is the best way to serve campus victims, and if more useful alternative models are available to us.

I think there is another model that bears exploration. It is based in a simple question: on your campus, who are victims most likely to approach for help, if anyone? On many of our campuses, the answer is not the well-trained members of our sexual assault response teams. The answer is: friends of victims, their roommates, their RA’s, and often, trusted faculty members. Is it enough to simply direct all these people to bring victims to the trained campus resources? No. It isn’t, simply because victims choose people they can trust, and more than anything else, they are concerned with confidentiality and having control over their choices. They don’t want to talk to people who they don’t know, and don’t know they can trust. We continue to hear about fewer than a tenth of all the assaults that are impacting our students, and I want to propose an alternate model, which might serve victims better.

If we accept my assertion that the people most likely to be providing assistance and crisis services to victims are their friends, roommates, RA’s and faculty members, why aren’t we then providing training for these key people, so that when they are approached for assistance, they know how to help? This is one of those situations where we have tried to direct the flow of reporting, and victims have steadfastly swum in the opposite direction. I’m not suggestion that we abandon the sexual assault response team model, but I am suggesting that we broaden it, so that we can provide assistance to more than a handful of victims each year.

Now, among friends, roommates, RA’s and faculty, some of these people will be easier to train than others. RA’s on many campuses currently are trained in some level of victimization-response, but are mostly discouraged from providing direct support, in favor of referring victims to trained campus resources. Because RA’s already receive training, providing them with victimization-response information would not be complicated. Faculty, too, might volunteer for some training, depending on their level of interest. It might be harder to impose training on faculty members, but we require sexual harassment training on many of our campuses, and training on victimization-response could be added to it. Rutgers University is a model. All 2000 faculty members receive victimization-response training annually. If Rutgers can do it, so can your institution.

Training friends and roommates might be harder. Volunteer trainings could provide information to those who are interested, but very few people who wind up needing to help a friend have any idea in advance that they will be called on in this way. There is no way for them to be able to anticipate the need for training. But, I do have an idea about how to make sure that just about anyone on a college campus who needs critical information about sexual assault response can get it easily. Widely disseminate a high-quality, comprehensive campus sexual assault response protocol. Some campuses are creating their own. Many use the protocol that Katie Koestner and I have written, A Model Campus Sexual Assault Response Protocol (© 2000. NCHERM). I am a strong believer in comprehensive protocols.

The model that Katie and I have developed differs in some key respects from most campus protocols. First, the protocol contains checklists for very broad constituencies. It contains a section for Public Safety, Residence Life, Student Affairs, Health Services, Counseling Services, Faculty/Staff, Rape Crisis Centers and Friends/Roommates. This covers 90% or more of the people who victims might approach for assistance on a college campus, and can easily be adapted from its electronic format to provide critical information for support staff, student activities, coaches, or anyone else you would want to have this type of information. Further, the protocol distinguishes itself from most because it assumes no level of familiarity with the issue for those who implement it. Most protocols are written for people who are already trained in victimization response. Ours is more of a “Protocol for Dummies,” if you will. Anyone can use it with only a quick reading.

What we learned, in talking with many of the people who are called on to provide crisis services on campuses was that they did not feel comfortable helping victims with options because they were uninformed. So, we started to collect information on the types of questions victims were asking, and the sort of information they seemed to be seeking from those they asked for help. We then expanded each of the protocol checklists to incorporate the ten or twelve most frequently asked questions by victims, and the answers they will need. Where the information needs to be customized for your campus, we have left a blank for you to fill in. So, for example, were a victim to approach a faculty member, and ask questions about prosecution, the faculty member would not need to be an expert on prosecution, but could look to the protocol to find out information such as who a victim needs to talk to in order to initiate a prosecution, how much it costs to hire a prosecutor (a frequent question!), whether the trial would be public, etc. All these things will help the victim to make an informed decision.

Each protocol gives some basic victimization-response tips for the user. And, for each protocol, most of the questions a victim might ask have been anticipated, so that just about anyone can quickly be enabled to provide a useful response. Too many times, a friend or faculty member has had to say, “I don’t know, let’s call someone who does.” That works sometimes, but other times makes victims uncomfortable. And if it does, the trusted helper might have to get back to them, and we know that sometimes we only have one chance to help someone, and after that they may not seek assistance again. We don’t want victims to fall through the cracks, and a comprehensive response like this can help, and can also provide consistency of information across resources, if victims decide to contact more than one resource who is using the protocol.

Finally, this protocol can be used by friends and roommates. Some colleges give a copy to every student. While that might be impossible on your campus, it is possible to disseminate these protocols widely. Some colleges post them on the web. Others train fraternity and sorority leaders how to use them. Still others place a copy on the bulletin board outside the RA’s door, so that anyone can grab a copy, as necessary, and anonymously. Some colleges will even place copies in the off-campus student center, or in the student handbook. If you feel having this resource would be beneficial on your campus, A Model Campus Sexual Assault Response Protocol is available at www.ncherm.org.

NCHERM 20 Callery Way, Malvern, PA 19355, Telephone: (610) 993-0229,
Facsimile: (610) 993-0228. Or email basokolow@aol.com.

© The NCHERM Newsletter. Summer 2003. All rights reserved.

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