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Title IX Education & Prevention

Education and training are important tools for preventing and responding to sex- and gender-based violence and harassment.

Prevention education strategies are meant to create and support positive, respectful, and equitable work and learning environments and endeavor to stop sex- and gender-based violence and harassment before they happen. Each year violence prevention research provides more insights into how communities can prevent violence and harassment from happening in the first place.

At the University of Washington, we remain committed to fostering environments where you feel valued and supported and have the opportunity to learn and grow. As a member of the UW community, you also have an important role to play in ensuring a respectful environment for your community members.

Staff, faculty, and other academic personnel play an essential role in creating respectful and inclusive environments that do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or violence.

Creating respectful academic environments for students

Whether you engage with students in a laboratory, clinical, classroom, or library setting, you can take proactive actions to foster respectful learning environments. By setting clear expectations and sharing resources, you can enhance students’ ability to engage fully, decrease the likelihood of sex- and gender-based violence, harassment, and discrimination, and establish a clear framework for responding to issues if they arise. Below are some actionable suggestions to help create such environments.

  • Clarify interaction norms: Communicate your expectations for respectful behavior in both online and in-person settings.
  • Address potential harassment: Let students know how you plan to handle harassing behavior and harmful comments.
  • Prepare responses: Develop and practice phrases you can use to promptly address remarks during class discussions, small group work, clinical rotations, or lab meetings.
  • Offer Support: Remind students they can come to you if something happens that impacts their ability to fully participate in the academic environment.

  • Highlight resource information: Provide information about UW resources at the start of the quarter and reference them regularly throughout your course.
  • Include the Title IX syllabus statement: Ensure your syllabus and resource documents include the Title IX syllabus statement to emphasize support for students affected by harassment or violence.
  • Provide course content information: Inform students in advance about any course material that involves topics like sexual assault, harassment, relationship violence, stalking, or exploitation so that they can prepare accordingly.
  • Prepare for course flexibility: Design your course or student experiences with the potential for supportive measures in mind. Be ready to adjust evaluative assignments or engagement expectations if a student requests supportive measures.

Husky Prevention & Response

Husky Prevention & Response (HPR) is a foundational, online course tailored to an employee’s or student’s role. The course provides content on recognizing sex- and gender-based violence and harassment and includes strategies for intervening or interrupting concerning behaviors. The course also introduces support resources, responding with care, options for reporting or submitting formal complaints, and the UW policies that pertain to our commitments and expectations.

Employee HPR course

Student HPR course

In August 2019, the University of Washington’s Title IX Steering Committee charged a working committee to develop University-wide courses on the prevention of and response to sex- and gender-based misconduct. This course was developed by and for students, staff, faculty, and other academic personnel at UW. It went through extensive review with stakeholders across all UW locations.

To learn more about the 2019 UW committee charge and a previous committee report that informed this project, please review:

Title IX Training & Education Working Committee members:

  • Co-Chair: Kiana Swearingen, Office of the Title IX Coordinator, UW Tri-Campus
  • Co-Chair: Elizabeth Wilmerding, Violence Prevention & Advocacy Program, UW Bothell
  • Erin O’Connell, Athletics, UW Seattle (Title IX Steering Committee Liaison)
  • Deanna Blanchfield, Human Resources, UW Tacoma
  • Erin Casey, Professor, UW Tacoma
  • Michelle Cabrera, Associate Professor, UW School of Medicine
  • Lisa Hanna, Campus Operations/Human Resources, UW Tri-Campus
  • Lauren Lichty, Associate Professor, UW Bothell
  • Jon Payne, Human Resources, UW Medicine
  • Jessica Rashid, Student Life, UW Seattle
  • Jaye Sablan, Core Programs, UW Seattle Graduate School
  • Paige Sechrest, SafeCampus, UW Tri-Campus (and graduate student representative)

Technical and project support:

  • Joel Tobin, Compliance Services
  • Jonathan Beck, Ph.D. Candidate, 2021 (student employee)
  • Sarah Park, BA, 2020 (student employee)

Voice Actors:

  • Vincent Milay
  • Marquis Julian Hill, English B.A., UW, 2016
  • Akhila Narayanan, Computer Engineering, UW, 2024 (expected)

Recommended Citation

Swearingen, K., Wilmerding, E., Sechrest, P., Lichty, L., Sablan, J., Hanna, L., Cabrera, M., Rashid, J., Casey, E., Payne, J., Tobin, J., Beck, J., Blanchfield, D., O’Connell, E. (2021). Husky Prevention & Response Course [Online Course]. University of Washington. https://www.washington.edu/titleix/title-ix-education-and-outreach/ 

The following groups and UW units offered support during this project:

  • The Title IX Steering Committee provided guidance and support for this endeavor
  • Groups of key stakeholders (students, staff, and faculty) conducted curriculum reviews at key stages throughout this project
  • Over 1,300 individual UW community members provided information about their priorities, needs, values, and dreams for a course like this
  • UW-IT, HR Benefits, Analytics & Information Services (HRIS), and the Integrated Service Center (ISC) provided technical support
  • The Office of Educational Assessment provided nuanced and critical analysis of data from the 2019 UW Climate Survey
  • The Office of the Title IX Coordinator offered ongoing leadership and expertise

Husky Prevention & Response is a foundational “Level 1” online course. “Level 2” in-person education will continue to be encouraged and developed for all members of the UW community. If you are interested in additional UW educational opportunities, we encourage you to review these resources:

The courses are typically updated in January and July or when significant university resources or policy changes occur.

If you have suggested edits or updates, please email tixcourse@uw.edu.

Please submit any feedback or questions about the course to tixcourse@uw.edu.