Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Arianna Sessoms" <>]

Hello all!

 

Thank you to those who joined us for another ECHO@edu: Campus Violence Prevention teleECHO clinic! If you missed it, we look forward to seeing you next time on Thursday, June 9^th (register here for the next ECHO clinic).

 

If you have not yet shared your feedback with us, please do so in this short survey: https://bit.ly/ECHOedu22. When you submit your evaluation, you’ll be taken to a downloadable PDF certificate for your records.

 

*All links and resources discussed during the clinic can be found in our community Padlet. Instructions for creating a free Padlet account can be found here: How to Use Padlet

 

Case Presentation Resources

Thank you to Caitlyn Largent for our 1^st case presentation! Her presentation slides are attached. Please reach out to her at if you have any questions or further recommendations.

 

Caitlyn wanted feedback, recommendations, and best practices for her to explore for GMU’s Relationship Peer Leader Program. Below are recommendations the group shared:

• Financial compensation for student peer educators helps with retention of students in the program

• If financial compensation is not possible, compensate in other ways:

• Offer a mentorship component to the program or other networking opportunities.
• Take students to a local or national conference as part of their membership in the peer educator program.
• Connect students to opportunities to do research or work with faculty.
• Give the young people access to spaces they might not normally have access to.
• Provide meal vouchers or discounted meals.
• Collaborate with other campus departments. An example from EMU: if peer educators provided a certain number of trainings to RAs then they received discounts on their campus housing.
• While there is already research that shows how stipends effect impact and engagement, consider polling current peer educators to see what other supports or forms of compensation would benefit them.

Partner with other local sexual and domestic violence agencies who may have access to funding.

• Resource to find local agencies: Get Help/Ayuda – Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance (vsdvalliance.org)

Consider the peer education program applying to be an official student club or organization in order to gain access to consistent funding as well as perks such as t-shirts and other swag. Other resources

• Research from FCYO (Funders Collaborative for Youth Organizing) that talks about strategies for sustaining youth work Papers_cover_6_v3.qxd (fcyo.org)

To increase student involvement and enhance training material:

• Partner with and recruit from other identity-based centers on campus for a more intersectional approach.
• Recruit student volunteers from other campus organizations, such as other sexual violence prevention-related orgs.
• Some peer educator programs require that students take a course before becoming a member. If students are not able to take the course or commit fully to the program, but still want to be involved, consider a 2^nd tier of the program: peer educator “ambassadors” or a “street team” who can help with tabling and smaller commitment tasks to support the program.
• Collaborate with and gain support from other campus departments such as a student leadership center or academic affairs.

Work with campus administration to ensure that peer education is part of the strategic mission and is widely supported on campus. Uplift the research that peer education models benefit students and also that the education they provide is often necessary for university compliance. A formal assessment and collecting data may help support this. Caitlyn shared that at GMU, students become Certified Peer Educators through NASPA's Certified Peer Educator (CPE) Training. https://naspa.org/project/certified-peer-educator-cpe-training. GMU staff completed a train-the-trainer program to become trained CPE Facilitators. This helped to reduce the overall cost of ongoing certification.

 

Didactic Presentation Resources

Thank you to Chloë Dauer and Mary Tolentino Baéz for a wonderful didactic presentation, serving us a deep dive into JMU’s Diversity Education Empowerment Program: DEEP Impact. Their presentation slides are attached. Reach out to them at if you have any questions.

 

A few tips I’d like to highlight from the didactic presentation:

• Recognize that asking students to discuss triggering material with peers, whose triggers they may also have to manage in the educational space, is asking a lot. Make sure there are proper supports as well as training and practice in place to prepare them for this.
• Students are required to take a pre-requisite course to join DEEP Impact, however, the course is open to all students. Other students who are interested in facilitation and dialogue but may not be interested in or able to participate in the program can learn these frameworks and skills.
• Make communication channels centralized so students aren’t having to check and manage various platforms at once.
• Have a physical space where peer educators can post up and also easily access professional staff and other educators. CMSS has an office set up where peer educators can use computers that are in the same space as the Graduate Assistant and professional staffs’ offices.
• Create standard presentations that those who want to receive peer educator workshops can choose from, and then tailor the examples, language, and other flexible content to the specific requesting group.

 

Thank you all for your participation!

 

Upcoming Clinics

Register yourself and a colleague for the remaining ECHO@edu: Campus Violence Prevention teleECHO clinics:

• June 9, 2022 | 10:30AM-12:00PM

• Get excited for our didactic presenter: Jordan McCann, Assistant Director for Sexual and Relationship Health @ James Madison University, who will be presenting on sexual health wellness coaching for students!
• We still need a case presenter!

August 11, 2022 | 10:30AM-12:00PM

• Didactic presenter: your Hub Team will be sharing a brand new toolkit we have designed for campus peer educator programs!
• We still need a case presenter!

 

Would you like to present a case or be a didactic presenter, or want to learn more about what that entails? Email us at ! There is a $150 stipend available for presenters.

 

Additional Announcements

• The Action Alliance’s Culture Change Team is seeking your help! We are hosting focus groups this month in order to collect diverse student feedback on the Red Flag Campaign posters and gain insight about relationships and sexuality from college students across the state. If you would like to help, please invite any and all of your students to sign up for a focus group here, or email us at for more information.

 

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or would like additional information about anything referenced above.

 

Sincerely, your Hub Team,

Arianna Sessoms, Raelyn Williams, Kristen Pritchard

 

 

Arianna Sessoms (ar-ee-ah-nuh seh-suh-ms) she/her/hers

Prevention Technical Assistance & Training Manager

Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance

Email:

Phone: 804.377.0335 ext. 228

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

 

Attachment: 4.14.22 Agenda and Announcements.pdf
Description: 4.14.22 Agenda and Announcements.pdf

Attachment: 4.14.22 ECHO Case Presentation.pdf
Description: 4.14.22 ECHO Case Presentation.pdf

Attachment: 4.14.22 Peer Education_Didactic.pdf
Description: 4.14.22 Peer Education_Didactic.pdf