Students, faculty, and staff at UNC will be required to take a training course on sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The Office of Student Affairs at UNC sent an e-mail to students, on Monday, detailing a mandatory online training course to comply with a larger policy aimed at stopping all harassment and discrimination on campus.

Christi Hurt – Chief of Staff for the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at UNC – says this training is meant to educate everyone on campus.

“[The training is] making sure that they’re aware of all of the different components of the policy,” she says. “And that they understand the definitions of all the different types of prohibited conduct.”

Hurt adds the online module was perceived as the easiest way to get the information directly to the students.

Students will be required to complete this training course within 45 days of receiving their registration notice, according to the e-mail sent Monday. A student’s failure to comply with this requirement could result in a hold on their student account, which could affect their registration for classes.

Hurt says this program has been fine-tuned with feedback of a pilot program, which began this past summer and was extended into the fall semester.

“My understanding is that the pilot was very successful,” she says. “Students helped us clarify places where the training could be a little bit more precise and where they needed additional information. About 3,000 students went through that pilot.”

Hurt adds this course is part of the overall policy changes at UNC. She says they have made students aware of a website containing that policy, but this course will ensure students, faculty, and staff familiarize themselves with the material.

“[This requires] that folks go through the steps,” she says, “to understand what the prohibited conduct language looks like, what it means to be a supporter of a healthy campus, to be an individual who contributes productively to the campus climate and culture, and how to get help and provide people with assistance.”

Students will be required to take this course annually, according to the e-mail. Hurt says faculty and staff will have continued training as well.

“Faculty and staff are also going to have to take it on a regular basis,” she says. “It may not be annual. It may be every-other year. But, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that information is in everybody’s hands, in an up-to-date manner.”

This training is part of UNC’s compliance with federal law that requires everyone on campus be educated about the issue.

“This will help us fulfill some requirements under the Violence Against Women Act,” she says. “There’s a specific section in there that requires that we train everyone on campus about a series of definitions related to sexual misconduct.

“That’s not the only reason, of course, that we’re doing this training. We are also working very hard to change and promote a healthy campus culture.”

Hurt says to bring that “culture” to reality, it will be important to continue updating the policy to bring in any new developments or areas that were missed with the initial guidelines.

To continue UNC’s work of ensuring a safe and inclusive campus, the e-mail to student says to expect a sexual assault campus climate survey. Which Hurt says is expected to have multiple positive ramifications.

“Not only looking to gauge the temperature of the campus, but to look for the issues that are specifically causing challenges for students on our campus,” she says.

Hurt adds, in addition to the online training, in-person facilities are still available to provide assistance to those in need.

She says it will be important to receive continued feedback from everyone on campus to comply with providing a campus free of harassment.

The entire e-mail to students can be read below:

Dear Student,

The University has completed the development of an important training on sexual harassment and sexual violence that is required for all students, faculty and staff. The completion of the Title IX Awareness and Violence Prevention online training marks the end of an extensive pilot program and training development process.

The training complies with federal requirements and includes information about laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual violence, interpersonal violence and stalking. It also provides information regarding how to identify this prohibited conduct, seek support following incidents and report such conduct.

Many students participated in a pilot program. The pilot program began this past summer and was extended into the fall semester because of the valuable feedback the University continued to receive from program participants on the readability, clarity and content of the training. The University carefully considered this feedback and staff worked diligently with the compliance training vendor to incorporate the suggestions.

In the coming days, you will receive a registration notice from the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (eoctraining@unc.edu) with a personalized link to the training module. Failure to fully complete the training within 45 days of receiving the registration notice could result in a registration hold on your student account, which could affect your registration for future classes. Students will be prompted to take this course annually. When it is time to renew your training, you will be notified automatically by email. The course will take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.

This training is among many components of a larger effort at the University to eliminate, prevent and address the effects of sexual harassment, sexual violence, interpersonal violence and stalking. This includes working toward the development of a sexual assault campus climate survey. You can expect to learn more about this survey this semester.

We hope this training will increase awareness and broaden the discussion about this issue on our campus. We will host sessions to answer any questions you have following this training and to seek your feedback on how we can continue to improve our efforts to address this important issue. If you have questions about the training or would like information about additional training opportunities, contact the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office at (919) 966-3576.

Thank you for your participation. I appreciate your commitment to a safe and inclusive campus in which to work and learn.

Winston B. Crisp
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs