UW could expand sexual assault resources in 2019

LARAMIE — Proposals to add more funding for resources related to sexual misconduct are likely to be part of the University of Wyoming’s budgeting process for the 2020 fiscal year, Vice President for Student Affairs Sean Blackburn said.

In September, the university produced a five-year strategic plan in response to a sexual misconduct survey conducted earlier in the year. The survey examined rates of victimization, the pervasiveness of attitudes that can lead to sexual misconduct and students’ awareness of and trust in existing reporting process and resources.

Work on UW’s new budget will begin in January, and Blackburn said efforts to boost sexual assault resources is likely to continue through the next five years.

The university’s first comprehensive student sexual misconduct climate survey ended with a June report suggesting UW needs more education of students to prevent sexual assault.

The five-year strategic plan calls for expansion of UW’s own Step Up! Bystander Intervention Training Program, which trains students on deescalating potentially dangerous situations like alcohol abuse, discrimination, hazing, mental health emergencies and potential sexual assaults.

That proposal, however, differs from the recommendations given in the June report.

The drafting of the June report was lead by UW psychology professor Matt Gray, who specializes in sexual violence prevention, intimate partner violence and traumatic stress clinical psychology.

Gray’s team suggested using two intensive bystander intervention programs specific to sexual assault: “Bringing in the Bystander” and “Green Dot.”

Those programs, Gray’s report said, have been shown to “increase bystander intervention behaviors and reduce rates of harassment and sexual misconduct perpetration on college campuses.”

While the five-year strategic plan doesn’t follow Gray’s exact recommendations, it does suggest applying “for a coalition grant to send UW staff to train on Green Dot curriculum, and house Green Dot underneath the Step Up! umbrella.”

If that grant were received, the five-year plan would add five UW staff trainers by 2023.

The plan makes no mention of the Bringing in the Bystander program.

Blackburn said administrators have “not come to a conclusion yet” on whether to utilize new training specific to sexual assault. That decision will likely be made in the spring, he said.

A 2016 analysis of sexual assault prevention by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found implementation of Green Dot led to “an 11 percent lower rate of sexual harassment and stalking victimization and a 19 percent lower rate of sexual harassment and stalking perpetration when compared to two non-intervention campuses.”

“Another evaluation found that Green Dot substantially decreased (sexual violence), including sexual harassment, dating violence, and stalking in high schools, including a decrease in (sexual violence) perpetration,” the CDC report says. “Evaluations of Bringing in the Bystander show increases in self-efficacy and intentions to engage in bystanding among college students and bystander behaviors that involve helping friends.”

Gray said he’s frustrated that so many people think prevention programs can’t be effective at reducing sexual assault. “One-off, experimental” university-created programs often aren’t effective, he said, but well-studied programs like Green Dot and Bringing in the Bystander are.

Gray said he expects to continue to “be a squeaky wheel for some time” in promoting adoption of “time intensive” sexual assault prevention training.

Gray’s report also recommends greater post-assault support for victims, noting sexual assault tends to lead to high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and substance abuse.

The five-year strategic plan does call for building out services at the University Counseling Center.

The plan recommends including trauma specialization as a preferred qualification for counseling staff, supporting opportunities for current staff to become certified in trauma-specific treatments, and increasing the center’s client capacity.

Implementing all recommendations included in the June report would require only “modest” funding, Gray said, though he said it’s difficult to measure the exact cost with “even any remote precision.”

“As a starting point, you could have something as cheap as a single graduate assistant,” he said.

A graduate assistant could cost as little as $30,000. If UW dedicated a full-time psychologist and graduate assistant, the cost could be more than $100,000.

Currently, with no advertising, the University Counseling Center’s treatment programs reach capacity each year in early fall, after which sexual assault victims are waitlisted.

“I purposefully do zero advertising, because we fill up by the end of September,” Gray said.

With expected enrollment increases and greater efforts to urge reporting of sexual assault, Gray expects demand for treatment to increase in coming years. It’s hard to know how much post-assault staff UW needs to meet the demand, he said.

UCC’s services are also somewhat inadequate, said STOP Violence Coordinator Megan Selheim, because its work with students usually entails just 6-8 meetings. More trauma-related treatment requires longer term care, she said.

The June report also recommends “continued improvement in promoting visibility of reporting mechanisms and processes.”

“Even with those (recent) visibility efforts, I think a lot of students aren’t aware about this information,” Gray said.

Some faculty members expressed frustration at Faculty Senate earlier this month over the fact administrators have not yet taken action on the recommendations included in Gray’s June report.

“What is needed here is not another survey, but some resources,” Faculty Senate Chair Donal O’Toole said. “I think President (Laurie) Nichols is truly on board with these things. The question is: Does she have support from the rest of the administrators and the trustees?”

Selheim echoed the need for more funding, noting Gray’s team conducted the climate survey for free this year.

“That’s not sustainable if we’re going to do this every 2-3 years,” she said.