An online training video aimed at educating and helping the University community identify and respond to potentially troubling situations will be released to students and faculty this fall.
The video, "Hoos Making a Safer Community," was developed by the University's Office of Emergency Preparedness and an appointed Violence Prevention Committee. It will feature acting vignettes and provide links to resources in safety and violence prevention, according to a University statement.
"This is actually something that's been in the work for a couple of years," said Marge Sidebottom, director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness and member of the committee that helped produce the video. Following the April 2007 shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech, state legislation mandated that institutions of higher education in Virginia provide violence prevention education and resources to students, staff and faculty.
Initially, the University looked to other colleges and universities for ideas with the notion that there would be a violence prevention education system or program already in place that the University could purchase and use.
But ultimately, the University felt that a video tailored towards the University in particular was essential.
"The more we looked at it, the more we determined we really wanted to speak to the University itself" - a feat which was only possible by collaborating with students, faculty, staff and the community, Sidebottom said.
"Hoos Making a Safer Community" was therefore developed to ensure that members of the University have "the right information." With aid from the Student FilmMaker's Society, the group "put together the most important information in a succinct way" for the University community, Sidebottom said.
The University will begin sending emails introducing versions of the training module: one version for students, beginning in mid-September to mid-October, and another version to faculty members a week later. Accessing the video, which lasts about 30 minutes, will require NetBadge credentials.
"Having the training done each year allows us to keep the issue of safety, and specific ways to respond to a variety of issues, in the forefront of people's minds," Dean of Students Allen Groves said in an email. "That way, if something does come up, they will know how to respond and where to seek help."
Groves, who is also a member of the committee, noted that although the video is not mandatory viewing, it is "expected" that students go through the training process. Although a NetBadge block will not be imposed on students for failing to complete it, "my hope is that as intelligent adults, our students can see the merit in taking 30 minutes each year to brush up on safety resources," he said.
The committee believes the video will work because the committee designed the training module in a "convenient" and "engaging" manner by aiming to focus on certain key safety issues instead of attempting to cover too broad of a landscape.
"There will always be a few cynics, but asking students to give us 30 minutes each year to review these important safety issues seems pretty reasonable to me," Groves said. "My hope is that this will result in better memory retention of the key points in the training"
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