Dixie State University administrators are updating their compliance and safety system by creating mandatory trainings for faculty, staff and students.
Administrators are adopting a program that would provide training in safety issues. Dean of Students Del Beatty said the main reason for the new compliance and safety system is to keep students safe.
Josh Thayn, director of event services risk management, said DSU teamed up with Scenario Learning and SafeColleges to provide online training in compliance and safety.
“We kind of did a best practice search and looked at different online training opportunities, and that’s how we came across the SafeColleges software,” Thayn said.
Faculty, staff and students will be able to go online and take mandatory courses that train them in multiple areas on safety. Thayn said any training programs developed internally can be put into this online training system.
This online program is to help improve areas that need it and “isn’t meant to take the place of the great quality and structure that goes on campus,” Thayn said.
“I think generally [DSU] faculty, staff and students are really safety conscientious and have done a great job in the past and will continue to do so,” Thayn said. “We just wanted to improve upon that.”
The trainings have already begun for faculty and staff, and it will be “rolled out this semester for students,” Beatty said.
He said it will be easy to track who has taken the courses because students will have to log on with their student ID since it’s an online program.
Title IX Director Cindy Cole said the training consists of videos that are short and easy to watch.
“Most of them are 13 to 20 minutes, so they’re not too bad to sit down and watch one at a time,” Cole said.
There are different courses for students to take than faculty, Cole said.
“We’re still working out the bugs, but essentially students will receive an email informing them that they are required to complete the online courses,” Cole said. “They will be directed to the SafeColleges website where they will take the courses.”
Beatty said he wants this program to educate students.
“With the huge focus nationwide on Title IX and sexual harassment cases on college campuses, we don’t want to be in that situation and we want to keep our students safe,” Beatty said.
Beatty said this program will make DSU faculty, staff, administration and students compliant with national guidelines.
“It will benefit everyone if everyone will take advantage of it,” Beatty said.
Beatty said he hopes students will be able to feel safe on campus with these changes.
“Everyone has the right to be safe and to feel comfortable,” Beatty said. “So if it’s an issue happening in a class, the students can be comforted in knowing that their faculty has been trained in it.”
