Chancellor Kent Syverud will meet with members of the Workgroup on Sexual Violence Prevention, Education and Advocacy next week to discuss the group’s final report, according to a Syracuse University News release.

The workgroup was appointed by Syverud last September, and released its final report on Dec. 17, 2014.

In a campus-wide email sent May 30, Syverud announced that the Advocacy Center’s services would be realigned to operate collaboratively with the Counseling Center, Office of Student Assistance and Office of Health Promotion in order to provide comprehensive support for students impacted by sexual and relationship violence.

In light of the changes, Syverud appointed members of the workgroup Sept. 5, 2014 to identify any critical gaps in service and support that were not being addressed in the new structure. The workgroup delivered its final report Dec. 17, 2014, which identified areas that could be improved in the campus and community culture regarding sexual and relationship violence. The Chancellor indicated that university and Division of Students Affairs staff have started to institute a series of the workgroup’s recommendations, according to the release.

In the release, Syverud talked about the first recommendation in the report, which asked the university and Chancellor to recognize the Advocacy Center’s legacy and hard work of its former staff.

“I want to acknowledge the work of the center’s former director, Janet Epstein, who continues to support our students in the University’s Office of Student Assistance,” Syverud said in the release. “When the center was founded in 1990 as the R.A.P.E Center, it was one of the first of its kind in the nation on a college campus, and since that time has supported and educated thousands of survivors and campus community members.”

Staff members within the Division of Student Affairs are also addressing some recommendations made by the workgroup. Those include creating two new support groups run by the Sexual and Relationship Violence Response Team, establishing a permanent Chancellor’s Taskforce on Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence and conducting an initial climate survey pilot in spring 2015 with a full survey to be conducted in 2015-2016.

“Like all universities, we have much work to do in addressing the serious problem of campus sexual assault and relationship violence.” Syverud said the release. “I commit to working closely with the workgroup and the entire campus community in the coming semester and I look forward to providing regular updates on our progress.”

Published on January 16, 2015 at 2:11 pm

Contact Lydia: lawilson@syr.edu