Hi Katie!
Nice to hear from you! At Simmons, our faculty and staff LOVE having scenarios and case studies that help them to understand what is/is not reportable under Title IX, and identifying the steps that they would need to take to make a report (who to speak with, etc.).
Aside from the general Title IX and school policy overviews, we are sure to focus on things that might happen in off-site programs, at internships and placement sites etc., which always seems to be helpful. At this point in the discussion, we would also mention that Simmons has a policy against dating between faculty, staff and students, and we always make sure to mention that in the Title IX training, as those types of relationships can cause power dynamics that cause barriers to reporting.
It is also important to discuss any non-retaliation and alcohol/drug amnesty policies.
One thing that always comes up in discuss during these trainings (at least for us) is that faculty want to be a safe person for students to talk to (confidentially), and they are concerned that by having the responsibility to report up to Title IX, they may sever the relationship with the student, or the student may not feel comfortable coming back to talk to them in the future if they need help. We like to offer suggestions of how the faculty can explain their reporting responsibilities to students, and what protections and supports are in place- while keeping the student's information as private as possible. We started adding a blurb on Title IX and faculty/staff reporting in all graduate-level syllabi in order to be transparent up front, which has been a bit of a relief to faculty. We also use a number of creative ways to get this information out to undergrads as well.
Simmons works with Adrienne Murray from D. Stafford and Associates, who helps to keep our school in compliance for both Clery and Title IX. She comes out and does our faculty and staff trainings around Title IX for us, and everyone loves her. We always make sure to have a staff person (or a panel with 2 or 3 folks from our Title IX team) to co-facilitate with her so that they can answer specific questions about Simmons protocal and practice, that Adrienne may not be familiar with. I would recommend her if the school wants to hire a consultant who can also train!
I hope that helps. Give me a shout out if you need anything else!
