The Dean of Students Office is requiring an online sexual misconduct education and training during the 2015-16 school year.

During its last session, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a bill mandating training elements regarding sexual assault on college campuses. St. Thomas Sexual Misconduct Prevention Coordinator Emily Erickson said the program fulfills the federal and state requirements.

The video-based program, “Not Anymore,” covers a range of issues students might encounter on college campuses, including: consent, sexual assault, rape culture, bystander intervention, verbal defense, alcohol, dating and domestic violence, healthy relationships, sexual harassment and stalking. It provides information, facts and real-life stories, along with St. Thomas’ policies and procedures on various aspects of sexual misconduct.

Focus groups of St. Thomas students selected the program last fall after testing a number of other online sexual assault prevention trainings. St. Thomas partnered with the Student Success organization to customize the material provided in “Not Anymore.” The Dean of Students Office made sure the information both corresponded with state laws and was relevant to situations students might face on campus.

Senior Dylan Bakken said his opinion about the training changed after completing it.

“Before the training, I thought that making the sexual misconduct training required for all students was overdone and a waste of time,” Bakken said. “After the training, I realized there are some gray areas in which students should be informed upon before entering the college environment.”

Erickson said the program will be a good addition to the “UST Cares” session that all incoming undergraduate students attend during orientation. In addition, the training will reach students other than freshmen.

“We were thinking about how to reach all of our students, so part of our thinking was that an online training would help meet the needs of graduate programs,” Erickson said. “What I think is so helpful about this online training is that it allows students to observe this information on their own time, and in a place that is comfortable to them.”

All undergraduate and graduate students are required to complete this training by Sept. 25, with a score of at least 80 percent on the post-test. Because training on this topic is required by state and federal laws, St. Thomas has the right to place an academic hold on a student’s account if they haven’t completed the training.

The 2015-16 school year is a trial period, during which all students must complete the program; however, the training will only be mandatory for incoming undergraduate and graduate students after this year.

Senior Peter Moe said he agreed with the university’s decision to make the training mandatory.

“I do think that all UST students should complete the training, and I do think it should be mandatory for students,” Moe said. “It’s important that St. Thomas students are aware of the sexual misconduct that occurs on college campuses so we can create a culture where sexual misconduct doesn’t occur anymore.”

The goal of the training is to educate students about these topics and the resources available to them, and to help them feel prepared to respond in real-life situations. Erickson said sparking the conversation about these issues is the first step in combating them.

“Acknowledging that these problems are happening on campus and having a debate and conversation on how we can prevent them in the future is precisely what our community needs to do in order to address power-based personal violence,” Erickson said.

Claire Noack can be reached at noac8702@stthomas.edu.