Updated: Dec. 17, 2014 at 5:21 p.m.

About three months after its creation, Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud’s workgroup on Sexual Violence Prevention, Education and Advocacy delivered its final report on Wednesday.

In its 77-page report, the group identified several gaps in services, as well as made recommendations on addressing issues of sexual and relationship violence. Syverud said in an SU News release that he looks forward to talking with the workgroup about recommendations and next steps early next semester. The workgroup, which consisted of 13 members of the SU community, was co-chaired by Chase Catalano, the director of the LGBT Resource Center, and Dawn Johnson, a professor in the School of Education.

According to the report, the workgroup said it identified “numerous service gaps in the wake of the closing of the Advocacy Center,” but the group also acknowledges that some gaps in services existed before sexual assault services and resources were realigned. The closing of the Advocacy Center was announced in May and became official in June.

The most notable gap the group found was “a serious lack of communication at all levels in the Syracuse University community, from the Chancellor on down.” In its report, the workgroup also noted eight other, more specific gaps in services. One of those dealt with the closing of the Advocacy Center.

While the Counseling Center now houses services related to sexual and relationship violence, the workgroup found that without the Advocacy Center, “there is no longer a single office designated to provide information about services, advocacy, education, and prevention, as well as physical space for victims and survivors to informally congregate and support each other.”

Another gap the workgroup noted in its report is that campus conversations on the issue of sexual assault and relationship violence often only focus on male-on-female violence involving white, heterosexual undergraduate students. This focus causes a large number of individuals who experience sexual and relationship violence to be overlooked, according to the report.

Members of the workgroup also reported that there are insufficient staff and resources to effectively investigate instances of sexual violence. In addition, students, faculty and staff interviewed by the workgroup said there was insufficient training about the meanings of consent, rape culture and what it means to be an empowered bystander.

The workgroup made a 24 recommendations to improve services — 16 short-term and eight long-term. The short-term recommendations should be addressed in the spring, according to the report, while the long-term recommendations should be addressed in the next two to three years.

Before listing the recommendations, the workgroup laid out what it hopes the recommendations accomplish, as well as what the term “advocacy” means.

“As the University adopts these recommendations, we hope that services relating to sexual assault and relationship violence will be approached from a ‘victim/survivor advocacy’ perspective,” the report says.

The first short-term recommendation made is to “restore trust and foster healing” among members of the SU community. In the recommendation, the workgroup says it planned to ask Syverud for an apology and ask for the chancellor “to publically recognize the important legacy of the Advocacy Center and the tireless work of its former staff.”

In the report, the workgroup cites poor communication as a gap in service. The workgroup recommends instituting a communications campaign to address the gaps in services and awareness. among the recommendations are improving the communication of SU’s policy on affirmative consent and to have the provost distributing a memorandum before each semester describing resources and services, according to the report.

Members of the workgroup also recommended a chancellor’s taskforce on sexual assault and relationship violence that reviews services, policies and programs every semester and additional staffing to the Counseling Center.

In the short-term, the workgroup recommended an increase in the visibility of offices and personnel related to sexual assault and relationship services, according to the report. In the long-term, the workgroup recommends the creation of a “hub” at 111 Waverly Ave. that would house all services. In the report, the workgroup says the creation of the “hub” would promote safety, healing and empowerment for victims and survivors.

The workgroup also recommended creating a stronger relationship between the university and the Vera House, which aims “to end domestic abuse and sexual violence, to empower abused women and children and to promote equality and respect in relationships,” and is located in Nedrow, New York which is about 20 minutes away from SU.

Another long-term recommendation made by the workgroup was the creation of first-year fora across all schools and colleges of the university to address issues regarding sexual assault and relationship violence as well as the development of ongoing bystander education.

In the conclusion of the report, the workgroup says that according to results from a national survey, SU appears to be ahead of other comparable institutions in recognizing and addressing issues in sexual and relationship violence issues. But the entire campus needs to be involved to fully address these problems, according to the report.

Published on December 17, 2014 at 4:07 pm

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306