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Survivor Advocacy Program offices to be permanently relocated to Lindley Hall

Mar. 11, 2015

To the Editor, We are following up on our letter from Jan. 29 with an update about our commitment to the continuation of the Survivor Advocacy Program. Last spring, the Provost’s office was asked to identify and prioritize areas under our administration with operational space needs. We identified many programmatic needs, including the Survivor Advocacy Program, Office for Institutional Equity (which houses the office of the university Title IX Coordinator and ADA-504 Coordinator), Student Accessibility Services and the Center for Campus and Community Engagement. We are pleased to announce that these offices will find a new home in Lindley Hall this year.After several months of research, evaluation and interviews with affected offices to identify specific needs, University Planner Shawna Bolin developed a plan for providing the space to meet those needs — including those of the Survivor Advocacy Program, where privacy and accessibility are of utmost importance.All of these units, and the ones on our list that are not part of this plan, are incredibly important to our academic and student support missions. Because of our earlier letter, we wanted to focus for a moment on the Survivor Advocacy Program’s space to further assure students that the resource remains a vital part of our support services for victims of rape and sexual assault.The Survivor Advocacy Program’s new space will include four professional offices, a workroom and conference room in a private suite. The space is also large enough to accommodate the SAP Outreach Program, which serves community members in Athens, Meigs and Perry counties in southeastern Ohio. The suite has a private entrance with doors that separate it from the rest of the floor. In addition, this new space will provide a central location and nearby parking for those using the SAP’s services; the Athens City Parking Garage is less than two blocks away.An additional $40,000 was specifically allocated to replace an exterior door to ensure a second private entrance and exit path, provide windows for natural light and add hallway doors to create a private suite.OHIO’s Survivor Advocacy Program provides an important and necessary service to our campus and community. This new space will allow SAP to afford a safe and secure environment for those it serves and, in turn, help achieve its mission of creating a safe campus where victims and survivors of sexual assault, stalking and dating and domestic violence are thoroughly respected and supported.The Survivor Advocacy Program will be joined in Lindley Hall by the Office for Institutional Equity (offices of the university Title IX Coordinator and ADA-504 Coordinator), which will move into fully accessible space with ground level offices, and the Center for Campus and Community Engagement, which will expand into four offices plus storage and a conference room. Student Accessibility Services will add a group testing room, private testing room and space for a staff member to its office space.We thank you for the positive and constructive feedback we received from our last letter. We are committed to investing in these offices to ensure their continued work towards making our campus safe and inclusive for all. Pam Benoit is the Executive Vice President and Provost at Ohio University. Shari Clarke is the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion.

The Post

Top OU decision makers converge on Walter Hall; you should too

Mar. 11, 2015

The agendas of Ohio University’s top decision makers look the same several times each year —when they all come together for the university’s Board of Trustees meetings.OU employees spend weeks preparing for the meetings, in which the trustees approve the university budget, allocate money for projects, review the year’s enrollment data, etc.Although we don’t expect students to anticipate the meetings with such fervor, we still feel it’s important for them to recognize who the trustees are and what they’re doing here on campus.The board’s spring meeting will take place in Walter Hall, beginning today at 8 a.m. There’s plenty of public seating, and students are welcome to attend.The meeting, which spans the next two days, will cover the proposed renovation of Jefferson Hall (a $44 million project) and McCracken Hall (a $32.8 million project), replacing seats in The Convo (a $2.85 million project) and the idea of constructing a new building to house OU’s auxiliary services (a $16.7 million project).Students are quick to make suggestions about how the university should be spending its money and allocating its resources, and this is an opportunity for them to get a glimpse into how the university’s decision-making process actually works.If you’re stuck in class or think your Thursday and Friday will be better spent hanging out on College Green, you can follow our coverage on Twitter (@ThePostCampus) and thepostathens.com. We will publish a report about Thursday’s proceedings in Friday’s newspaper, as well.And if you’re looking for some more lengthy reading material — almost 500 pages worth — the Board of Trustees publishes its entire agenda online at ohio.edu/trustees/agendas.We all have a stake in how this university is governed, and these two days offer a chance for every student to get a first-hand look and perhaps a say in that process. We urge you to stop by Walter Hall to check it out.Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: editor-in-chief Jim Ryan, managing editor Sara Jerde, opinion editor Xander Zellner and projects editor Allan Smith. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.

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