Freshman Alexann Zahara completed her first college assignment before starting her classes.
Logging onto her computer at home, she watched video segments—like the kind you’d see during a late show’s man-on-the-street interviews—and interacted with simulated characters where she could choose different dialogue bubbles based on the information she was just given.
Although presented in an engaging and interactive way, the information she was learning wasn’t something to be taken lightly.
Zahara was one of the many incoming students who participated in an online course about alcohol education, sexual assault awareness and how to get in contact with campus resources from Counseling Services to UM-Dearborn Police and Public Safety.
“I thought it was all very important information,” she said. “I hope I don’t have to use it, but now I have a better idea on how to respond in tough situations and who can help on campus if my friends or I ever need it.”
Although UM-Dearborn’s campus was ranked among the top 20 safest campuses in the nation according to Backgroundchecks.org—which is an online database that pulls incident information from public records—Women’s Resource Center Director Shareia Carter said it was time to offer prevention and strategy skills on these subjects to campus.
It is the first year UM-Dearborn required these courses for all incoming degree-seeking students as part of their overall orientation experience.
Students age 21 and under take AlcoholEdu and Haven, which includes information about at-risk drinking behavior and identifying sexual harassment; students 21 and older participate in Haven Plus, which discusses identifying workplace harassment and toxic relationships among other issues. All programs are currently in use on U-M Ann Arbor’s campus for incoming students.
Carter said although UM-Dearborn is still a predominantly commuter campus, awareness is always beneficial.
“We need to be proactive, not reactive. We want to keep our students safe, both on and off campus. This is an awareness piece that they can use wherever they are,” said Carter, who researched education programs for nearly two years, looking for the right fit for campus. “With our continuous growth and now having a housing option for students, it was time that we had a university-wide initiative like this. We needed to reach out to our students and equip them with information to make informed decisions, identify dangerous behaviors and know where they can go for support.”
In addition to the platform’s interactive nature, Carter liked that it could be taken from anywhere with internet access, completed within two hours, and that students could start, stop and resume the course as needed.
She said the confidential research-based course educates students in a non-judgmental tone and provides personalized feedback to encourage them to consider their own decisions and those of their peers.
And that’s what Zahara liked most about the online programs. She said it gave real advice and imparts information to help mentally prepare for what to do—and who can help—in difficult situations.
“It was very clear that sexual assault is not the victim’s fault. It gave tips on how to be safe if you drink. And it gave me links and numbers to offices on campus I didn’t know existed or even would have thought about,” she said. “All the messages it had were important and it was a good way to get this out there.”
