Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears announced a series of efforts aimed at reducing sexual abuse and alcohol harm on campus including a nighttime safety shuttle and new training programs in a Jan. 4 campus-wide e-mail. The new programs and policies will be implemented in January, according to the 2011 Student Health and Safety Updates website.
Safety and Security will dispatch a safety shuttle van service for students to prevent them from walking home alone at night, according to the website. The shuttle will operate between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m.
The College will also offer a three-day Rape Aggression Defense instructor certification session on Jan. 17 to Jan. 19, according to the website. While previous deficiencies in Dartmouth's RAD program which teaches women "realistic self-defense tactics and techniques" were reflected in the limited number of instructors, the new training will allow students and community members to lead sessions so that the basic RAD training can be offered "at least two times during Fall, Winter, and Spring terms, and once during the summer," according to the website.
In an effort to effectively introduce these new initiatives, students and administrators at the College will work with Jennifer Sayre '93, the director of training and development at Green Dot, an organization that promotes individual safety and community responsibility through training and informational sessions.
An updated Student Handbook for Victims of Sexual Assault and an informational video for victims of sexual assault will be available to students the week of Jan. 10, the website states.
College officials also outlined reforms to the alcohol policy for the 2011 year. Dartmouth will implement the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students program for those who violate alcohol policies and are deemed to be at a high risk for alcohol abuse. BASICS is "one of the most effective alcohol counseling programs in reducing alcohol consumption for individual college students," the website states.
An alcohol harm reduction team, led by 10 students, will work with undergraduate advisors in the winter and spring to educate students about harm-reduction strategies, according to the website.
In order to encourage alcohol-free social events, Dartmouth will offer "mini-grants" of up to $1,000 to those who offer to host dry social activities, according to the website.
Administrators revised the Social Event Management Procedures, including an updated categorization of social events, expansion of the keg policy and additional walkthroughs by Safety and Security officers during "tails" events, The Dartmouth previously reported ("Greek leaders receive alcohol policy update," Jan.4).
The revised policy categorizes social events into Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 based on the number of students attending each event, the type of alcohol served and designated requisite registration procedures. The past "open" and "closed" event categories will no longer be used, The Dartmouth previously reported.
