Peer-Led Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Training

As of August 2019, all incoming graduate students in the College of Chemistry attend an in-person Sexual Violence and Sexual Harrassment (SVSH) prevention workshop during their orientation. The workshop, Respect is Part of Research (RPR), was designed by fellow graduate students in the Physics/Astronomy departments in conjunction with the PATH to Care Center and fully satisfies the university-wide requirement of an in-person training for all incoming instructors.

The Workshop

The workshop runs for just under two hours and is comprised of two sections. The first is a presentation that covers the social norms expected within the College of Chemistry, policy information from the University of California System and UC Berkeley’s campus policies, as well as the required legal framework to be Title IX compliant. Following a small break, the workshop breaks attendees into small groups to discuss real scenarios that have happened on the UC Berkeley campus (and are restructured in conjunction with the PATH to Care Center). Discussion in these small groups are lead by older graduate student facilitators who have been trained on these topics (see below for more). In these small groups, students collectively work to access what is problematic about each scenario, work on strategies to resolve the issue, and discuss the underlying structural issues that led to those situations.

The Facilitators

We worked with our colleagues in the Chemistry Graduate Life Committee (CGLC) to make this possible, so there are a number of facilitators both in the Chemistry (Chem) as well as the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) departments in this list. Please feel free to contact any of these people with inquires about this program, questions about navigating SVSH-relevant issues or reporting, or if you would just like someone to talk to about your situation. Please note that in this context our facilitators are “responsible employees” and must report any incidence of SVSH to the University. If you would prefer a confidential resource, please contact the PATH to Care Center at their 24/7 advice line (510) 643-2005.


Contact

If you are interested in learning more about this program, feel free to contact either Mark or Anthony (listed above). If you would like to be trained to serve as a facilitator for upcoming RPR workshops, please fill out the application below.


Respect is Part of Research Facilitator Application