The Office of Student Welfare and Title IX is streamlining its student outreach initiatives to prevent sexual assault, provide help for survivors and eliminate confusion.
Emily Springston, chief student welfare and Title IX officer, said one of the major problems the office has faced is understanding what students are hearing about sexual assault.
“Some students want us to provide them with detailed texts, some prefer social media outreach, and others we have yet to discover how we can resonate with them,” Springston said. “It’s different for every individual.”
Mistrust from students, is a natural reaction for such a sensitive topic as sexual assault, she said. Especially with the recent accusations against Jason Casares, associate dean of students and deputy Title IX coordinator, she said she wants to make sure the process makes sense to everyone involved.
Casares was accused of sexual misconduct by Jill Creighton, an assistant director for global community standards at New York University. He has been placed on paid administrative leave by the University.
The University has requested the review of the last 18 sexual assault case hearings Casares oversaw. IU spokesperson Mark Land said the reviews began earlier this week, though the specifics of each case are confidential to protect the privacy of those involved.
The Department of Education conducted an investigation on the University’s Title IX policies in 2014. However, they are unable to reveal the details of its investigations to the public.
A major part of discussing sexual assault is figuring out a way to give students important information so they can understand how IU processes cases and provides help, Springston said.
Recently, the office has expanded their web presence and created brochures to clear up the meaning of complicated terminology.
Title IX is a law that prevents sexual discrimination in educational institutions. The office, which falls under the Dean of Students Office, conducts reports and provides services to address specific legal issues, primarily sexual misconduct.
In the fall of 2014, the Office of Student Welfare and Title IX sent out a sexual assault climate survey, which received a response from 17 percent of the student population.
In order to advance the goals of the Student Welfare Initiative, which seeks to maximize efforts of preventing and responding to sexual assault, the office also released its annual report for the 2014-15 school year.
“The data of our cases, the individual feedback we have received and the climate survey, supports what we have already observed,” Springston said. “We are also able to use it to plan future initiatives.”
During the past two years, Springston said the office has responded by heightening the levels of employee training.
Leslie Fasone, assistant dean of students of women’s and gender affairs, said the staff has been using reports to guide the formation of a sexual violence prevention committee, as well as a task force that meets monthly to provide feedback and recommendations.
Fasone said the office has recently piloted a new workshop on alcohol, consent and bystander intervention. It also plans to initiate a prevention campaign this fall.
“Both of these recommendations have come from student leaders over the last year,” Fasone said. “In addition to our partnerships with students, we have been collaborating with a number of different departments at IU to enhance our reach to various groups of students.”
Springston said she has plans to look at the sexual misconduct policy this summer, with the intent to focus primarily on education and training in order to fix and clarify several provisions. Despite the office’s efforts, Springston said students are rightfully worried about the pending Casares case.
“The message that we care and support our students is always the same,” Springston said. “Although we still have individual cases we have to go through, and a strict process that must be followed.”
