TABLE OF CONTENTS FRONT PAGE NEXT ARTICLE PREVIOUS ARTICLE
Starting next semester, it should be a little easier for faculty, staff
and students to get timely and accurate information about the University's
sexual harassment policies and procedures.
Judith Scott, the University's sexual harassment officer since 1992, has
developed a new program that will deploy throughout the campus 20 people who
are trained to provide information about what sexual harassment is and what
options are available to anyone who may have been subjected to it.
Scott calls the program "SHIR," shorthand for Sexual Harassment
Information Resources. The 20 people who will be trained to carry out the
program will be referred to as "sexual harassment information facilitators,"
Scott said.
Scott said it is as important to understand what these 20 people cannot do
as what they can. They are not advisers or counselors. Their role is limited to
providing accurate, up-to-date information to people who need it in a way that
is both non-threatening and convenient to them.
A committee studying sexual harassment issues concluded that many
employees and students may be reluctant to bring complaints to supervisors or
the sexual harassment officer.
Some may be hesitant because they think these individuals would be hard to
reach. Others fear that if they go to a high-ranking official a process may get
started before they fully understand what the University policy is or what
their options would be.
Having these 20 facilitators located around campus will give people the
added comfort and confidentiality of going to someone outside of their
department for information, Scott said.
Former Chancellor Michael Hooker, in a memorandum released in Sept. 1998,
said it was crucial that everyone working or studying at the University
understand what harassing behaviors are and what resources are available to
assist people who have been subjected to such behavior. This program, Scott
said, is an effort to better meet that objective.
Scott said she hopes to have the facilitators in place by January after
students return from the winter break. The facilitators will serve three-year
terms and then another group of facilitators will be trained to replace them,
Scott said.
To UNC-CH Home Page