A message from Steve Hudson, senior vice-president, Academic and Learner Services:
As we look to continuously support and enhance our efforts to provide a safe and respectful learning environment, next month we will launch the Niagara College Student Voices on Sexual Violence Online Survey. This initiative is designed to generate student feedback that will inform improvements to our sexual violence supports, services and safety initiatives while serving to raise awareness of this important issue.
The online survey will run from March 2 to 25. Students will receive an email invitation to complete the survey outside of classroom hours. Our Sexual Violence Working Group, which includes representatives from Planning and Institutional Research, Student Services and Campus Safety, will oversee the survey at Niagara College.
Niagara College’s Student Voices on Sexual Violence survey is the same survey that the Ontario government delivered province-wide in 2018. It was developed in consultation with experts, and provides all full time Niagara College students with the opportunity to provide feedback on the issue of sexual violence.
The online survey aims to gather quality, consistent data from students about their experiences, general attitudes, and beliefs related to unwanted sexual behaviours.
This initiative will provide valuable input from Niagara College students as we continue to strive to make our campuses free from sexual violence – which includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, indecent exposure, voyeurism, and sexual exploitation.
The survey is the latest in an ongoing series of Niagara College initiatives to assist in preventing and responding to sexual assault, including:
- Joining all Ontario colleges in the development and roll-out of the stand-alone Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence Policy in 2015;
- The 2015 launch of the Niagara College Consent is Key campaign – an ongoing educational initiative that focuses on the importance of understanding that consent is key to preventing sexual assault and sexual violence. The campaign has grown to include online and video elements, and is now linked to the College’s mobile safety app;
- The launch of a mandatory sexual assault training program for employees in 2016, which was developed in consultation with all Ontario colleges and other stakeholders;
- Increased staffing in the Student Rights and Responsibilities Office, including the recent approval of two new positions to better support students impacted by sexual violence;
- In 2019, the Student Rights and Responsibilities Office developed an inclusive list of on-campus and off-campus resources for students impacted by sexual violence. www.niagaracollege.ca/consentiskey/resources/
- The 2019 launch of a sexual violence taskforce for assessing the sufficiency of the College’s sexual violence policy, assessing the effectiveness of current programs and services to prevent sexual violence on campus, and providing recommendations on the additional steps that the College may take to ensure a safe environment.
I encourage staff and faculty to refer any students who may have questions to the following resources:
- Survey website www.niagaracollege.ca/consentiskey/survey
- Niagara College’s Consent is Key site www.niagaracollege.ca/consentiskey/
- Student FAQs site www.niagaracollege.ca/consentiskey/survey/student-faqs/
Staff and faculty who have questions about the survey content are asked to contact Hafsah Shaikh, manager, Student Rights and Responsibilities at [email protected] or ext. 7370.
