The New Hampshire Violence Against Women Campus Consortium restarted in September 2014, and Dartmouth’s Title IX and Clery Act compliance officer, Heather Lindkvist, recently joined as the College’s consortium coordinator, attending her first meeting last month.
The consortium exists to create an environment where postsecondary institutions in the state can come together to develop policies that will help reduce and prevent violence against women on college campuses, according to the New Hampshire Department of Justice website.
Kathy Kimball, the New Hampshire Sexual Assault Resource Team Coordinator, said that the New Hampshire College Consortium has been in place periodically since 2006 and consists of representatives from a variety of campuses around New Hampshire.
She said these representatives include administrators, Title IX Coordinators, counselors and campus safety and security officers.
These representatives have been meeting monthly since the beginning of the academic year in September to discuss new policies that can be implemented on their campuses, Kimball said.
The new strategies being discussed include training sessions for faculty and staff on sexual assault issues, Kimball said, as well as training for students. The training could include education on consent and issues faced when first arriving on campus for freshmen, along with additional training for upperclassmen.
Kimball said that since the recent emphasis on reducing and preventing sexual assault on college campuses, exemplified by President Barack Obama’s “It’s On Us” initiative, the New Hampshire Department of Justice was given a grant to hire someone to specifically assist her with prevention at colleges in the state.
“The person who will be assisting me will be helping the colleges in developing and implementing these trainings and helping the schools to network with each other, and problem solve these issues, and meet the standards and requirements that are set,” Kimball said.
Kimball said that Lindkvist’s role as Dartmouth’s consortium coordinator will be to network with the other institutions involved in the consortium, as well as reach out to institutions that are not at the table to see what issues they may be facing.
“I believe that some colleges are unsure of how to do some of the things that are being talked about in Washington, and this gives them a forum with colleagues from other campuses here that may be dealing with the same issues,” Kimball said.
She added that it provides a place to work together with other higher education institutions, as well as have access to national resources through the New Hampshire Department of Justice.
“The consortium representatives right now seem very enthusiastic about having someone in this position to help them,” Kimball said.
Consortium co-chair Forrest Seymour, sexual violence education and prevention coordinator at Keene State College, has been attending meetings for the campus consortium as the representative for the college for around seven years and began serving as co-chair several years ago. He said that he believes that the mission of the New Hampshire Violence Against Women Campus Consortium is not only to prevent violence on college campuses, but also to support professionals at these institutions in their efforts preventing these issues.
“It’s about providing a setting for the staff, faculty and administrators involved to share ideas, get new ideas and brainstorm,” Seymour said.
He added that the new sexual assault coordinator position commissioned by the Attorney General’s office will benefit the consortium in developing template trainings for faculty and students.
“These templates will be made available to all of our member institutions, and every school can customize them to fit their needs,” he said.
Seymour said that while Dartmouth was a member of the consortium in previous years, he is glad to now have Lindkvist attending the meetings.
“Dartmouth is one of the premier schools in the country and it’s great to have representation on our consortium,” he added.
Other institutions that are a part of the Campus Consortium include the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, Keene State College and Southern New Hampshire University, amongst others.
Jeffrey Furlone, the Title IX Coordinator at Plymouth State University, wrote in an email that he believes sharing knowledge and experience between institutions is the best way to benefit students.
He said that having a group of colleagues meet on a monthly basis to discuss these issues is the best way to remain informed and network with others that share the same desire to address violence on campuses.
Lindkvist could not be reached by press time.
