New Penn GSE course examines the challenges of campus sexual violence

January 13, 2016

Penn GSE’s top-ranked Higher Education Division trains professors, college administrators, and policymakers to understand and solve some of the biggest challenges facing colleges and universities. One increasing area of concern is student health­ - ­ranging from mental health to sexual violence on campus.

In response, this year Penn GSE piloted the College Student Health (EDUC 545) course for graduate students, giving students the opportunity to learn more about what educators can do to address these pressing issues. The class was able to host a number of guest speakers working in this arena, many of them from the front lines at Penn. 

Committed to understanding the scope of the campus sexual violence problem, in 2014, the University of Pennsylvania was one of 27 colleges that participated in the national Not Alone task force, conducting a climate survey. The White House initiative was in response to an increasing number of sexual violence and abuse reported cases on college campuses across the country. The results of the campus climate survey came shortly after Penn’s 2014-2015 Year of Health, which was sponsored by the Office of the Provost. The College Student Health class was a natural outgrowth of these efforts, and was able to tap into both the climate survey and conversations taking place across the campus.

Recently, the federal government has increased pressure for higher education institutions to work on issues such as access and retention, completion rates, and enforcing Title IX. Contrary to popular belief, Title IX is not just about gender equality in athletics­­­, but works to protect students from sexual assault and harassment on college campuses.

“Sexual violence and assault is sadly nothing new, but there have been several recent cases and reports that have raised the level of conversation nationally,” said Dr. Ross Aikins, the course’s teacher, as well as Program Manager and Lecturer for the Penn GSE Higher Education Division.

Aikins, whose research focuses on college student health, finds that “these topics are highly relevant to anybody who has ever worked in or been on a college campus – which is everyone at Penn,” said Aikins. 

Students in the course studied a variety of health-related topics, but primarily focused on the mental health and sexual misconduct of college students. Every class began with a guest speaker from a Penn student services department or other outside professionals.

“I loved all the guest lectures. Learning firsthand from professionals who work with these issues daily was a great addition to the class,” said Austin Jasienski, a master’s student in higher education, who hopes to work in undergraduate admissions.

Jessica Mertz, Director of Student Sexual Violence Prevention and Education, was one of the guest speakers. In 2014, President Gutmann and Provost Price created her position in response to growing concerns about sexual abuse and violence on campus.

“This position has allowed me to reach out to a wide variety of students,” said Mertz. “My main role is to engage the Penn community in the prevention of sexual violence, relationship violence, and stalking. Awareness is at the core of prevention, and I am always looking for opportunities to increase the community’s understanding of interpersonal violence.”

With courses like College Student Health, Penn GSE is actively preparing higher education students to be aware of the challenges related to sexual violence on campus, and equipping them to be more effective leaders in the future.

Even though the university has a number of resources on campus, students are often unaware of the services offered. Here are a few key points of contact:

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