The Department of Justice Grant: 2017–2019
Susquehanna University was awarded the Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women Grant in 2017 to implement several endeavors across campus to improve comprehensive prevention as well as victims services.
This meant hiring a project coordinator to assure the measures of the grant were met and the development of a coordinated community response team, but also several things that affect the lives of people on campus in real ways.
Year One (October 2017–September 2018)
- Developed a detailed and comprehensive Strategic Plan that outlines the goal of these initiatives.
- Created and maintained a Coordinated Community Response Team. This team currently has 19 members as well as four community partners: Transitions of PA, Snyder County District Attorney’s Office, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner at Evangelical Community Hospital and the Chief of Police at the Selinsgrove Borough Police Department.
Year Two (October 2018–September 2019)
- Established the Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) Center to provide new resources and one central location for victims to go on campus if they were affected by sexual misconduct or gender-based violence.
- Work directly with Transitions of PA to now provide 24/7 advocacy services to victims.
- Rewrote the Sexual Misconduct and Gender Based Violence Policy which was reviewed and approved by the Clery Center & Victim’s Rights Law Center.
- Training for all conduct board members on the topic of gender-based violence as it pertains to understanding and evaluating conduct cases.
- Developed a process assessment for all students who go through the Title IX process so they can anonymously rate and review their experience.
- Law enforcement signed a Miranda of Understanding with Selinsgrove Borough Police Department to work alongside each other.
- Training for all campus law enforcement on the topic of gender-based violence and response.
- Developed new ID cards with emergency numbers for students.
- Mandatory prevention and education programs about gender-based violence; specifically, sexual assault, domestic/dating violence and stalking for first-year students, new staff, Greek Life members and all NCAA athletes.
- Trained 17 faculty and staff members in Green Dot Bystander Prevention that launched in Fall 2020.
- Launched a new Student Safety website in Fall 2019.
- Launched Engaging Men Committee to talk about issues of masculinity and creating a safer campus.
- Established a Prevention Policy.
Year Three: Sustainability (October 2019–September 2020)
- Preparing the campus community for the closing of the grant.
- Building sustainable policies and procedures to institutionalize change.
- Preparing subcommittees for new leadership at the close of the grant.
- Applying for grant continuation if applicable.
- Continue implementing and expanding prevention programming.
What’s Next: DOJ Grant Continuation (2020–2023)
Susquehanna University has been awarded $299,328 from the U.S. Department of Justice to continue work to prevent sexual assault and relationship violence. This funding, awarded from the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, is a continuation of the university’s original 2018 grant from that office.
The new funding will:
- Expand training and technical assistance opportunities for the CCRT.
- Help the team establish a lethality assessment program at Susquehanna, which is a strategy to prevent domestic violence homicides and serious injuries.
- Increase access to materials in languages other than English.
- Support the hiring of a graduate assistant to expand the VIP Center’s work engaging men across campus.
- Broaden the reach of the VIP Center’s Green Dot Bystander Intervention programming.