Freshman, new transfer and graduate students have until today, Nov. 13, to complete CSUN’s new mandatory training program on sexual assault prevention.
Not Anymore is the new training program that aims to educate students on sexual assault and is required before eligible students can register for their spring semester classes.
The program is an interactive mix of videos and quizzes that uses real life testimonials and facts in what seems to be an effort in bringing a sense of reality and humanity to what is often a numbers game.
“Not Anymore ultimately seeks a very wide range of attitudinal and behavioral changes in a community, with the final goal being a decrease in incidences of sexual violence,” said Steven J. Pearlman, content director of Nformd, the parent company behind Not Anymore. “The program also seeks to change students’ attitudes towards survivors of interpersonal violence, to promote understanding and reduce victim blaming.”
By straying away from the victim blaming approach, Not Anymore seeks to instead empower viewers so that they might help prevent cases of interpersonal violence.
“[The program] strives to inspire every single viewer to understand how they are empowered to enjoy positive relationships, as well as how they can make real differences in other people’s lives by intervening, even in just small ways,” said Pearlman.
Students that already completed last semester’s Agent of Change are exempt from taking Not Anymore this semester, but all CSUN students will eventually go through similar programs each academic year, according to Title IX Coordinator Susan Hua.
“All students will receive periodic, ‘refresher’-type educational programs, at least annually, to ensure that they are aware of how to handle and report incidents of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct,” said Hua in an email response.
For some students who have already completed Not Anymore, the program seems to be more effective than the Agent of Change program students were required to take earlier this year.
“I think it could be very influential and helpful for students and individuals who are not educated on what qualifies as sexual assault, sexual battery, rape and domestic violence,” said Madison Miller, a CSUN transfer student and psychology major.
“It could be particularly helpful for individuals who have suffered from some type of sexual abuse, stalking, domestic violence or rape to understand that it was, and is, never the victims fault as well as offer them places to get help,” she added.
In a similar process to the required Agent of Change course distributed in Spring of 2015, the President’s Office sent a mass email to all transfers, freshman and graduate students in October informing them of the task.
But some students are complaining about the lack of equivalent follow-up to that October email.
“I didn’t know it was due until someone told me,” said Miller. “I did end up finding it on my CSUN portal under the checklist window.”
Graduate student Hansook Oh echoed this sentiment.
“If [my advisor] hadn’t reminded me, I would’ve completely forgot,” said Oh. “If they’re going to make this a thing and have a deadline, they should be emailing us a bunch of times and tell the department heads and dean to remind they’re students. I think it should be made a way bigger deal if our registration is put on hold.”
