The new online training sessions on discrimination and harassment and Title IX are a "must-see" in more ways than one.
- They're required for all faculty and staff
- They show you how to stay on the right side of discrimination and harassment laws
- They're engaging
An entertaining cast of characters -- office mates, faculty and students -- pop in and out of the lessons, providing examples of the kinds of behavior you might encounter in the office or on campus. Many of these vignettes are based on real-life incidents, and are accompanied by mini-exercises that allow you to test your responses to problematic situations. The result is a 40-minute interactive session that seems much shorter and leaves you better equipped to deal with harassment and discrimination on campus.
If your office workload is slowing somewhat as the holidays approach, now might be a good time to start the training. Here's what you need to know:
Training is required for all faculty and staff
President Steven Leath has called on all faculty and staff to complete the online discrimination and Title IX training over the next couple of months. The goal of the training is to ensure that Iowa State provides a supportive, inclusive environment for all.
Training in these areas also helps to fullfill requirements by two federal agencies -- the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Office of Civil Rights.
Training topics
Training covers Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972; Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and Iowa State's discrimination and harassment policy and policy on sexual misconduct, assault and sexual harassment involving students.
All faculty and staff will take two courses:
- Unlawful Harassment Prevention
- Title IX and Violence Prevention
Supervisors will take a third course, "Unlawful Harassment Prevention Supervisor Supplement for Higher Education Faculty or Staff."
A key focus of the training is helping you know what to do if you encounter discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment.
How to get started
You should have received an email Dec. 3 that lists the sessions you need to take and provides a unique link to your training space. Keep this link. You'll use it to access your training. You can start and stop training sessions at will. If you lost the email with your training link, send an email to:
- The office of equal opportunity at eooffice@iastate.edu or
- Robin Kelley, director of the office of equal opportunity, at rkelley@iastate.edu
Completing the training
You'll have an opportunity to print a training certificate after completing each session. You needn't forward these certificates to administrators but, if you like, you can keep for your own records. Your course completion will be electronically recorded.
Once you've completed the training sessions, you may want to retain your customized link. Kelley said the sessions will remain available as a handy reference for faculty and staff through early December next year.
Questions
If you have questions about the training, contact Kelley, who worked with Workplace Answers and campus stakeholders to customize the online training module for Iowa State.
