Anecdotal evidence suggests attendance rates at NIU’s fall semester’s sexual assault prevention programs have dropped, officials said.

The drop indicates fewer students are aware of the steps to avoid or report sexual/interpersonal assault, said Brian Hemphill, vice president for student affairs.

An informal task force was assembled Dec. 9 to investigate the reach and efficiency of campus sexual assault programs.

“I never heard of any programs,” senior sociology major Cheroa Harvey said. “The Northern Star should post highlights of where to go and what to do when or if it happens.”

The task force is launching an ad campaign in the Star, on Huskie Bus billboards and NIU cable advertisements, said Michelle Emmett, assistant vice president for student services.

“Students are confronted with a lot of difficult decisions during their first six weeks on campus,” Emmett said. “Both men and women are crucial to the process of preventing sexual assault.

Prior to last semester, a sexual assault prevention workshop was mandatory for all new residents in the residence halls. The task force has not decided whether to mandate attendance in the future.

“We looked at both long- and short- term goals,” Emmett said. “We will be returning to some old ways and embracing some new ways to use all the possible resources that we have.”

The Counseling and Student Development Office has presented the two-hour workshop for seven years. The program is interactive, involving a staff and trained student peer educators.

“I thought the program was very good,” said Jordan Miller, a junior computer science major who attended the mandatory workshop as a freshman. “The people presenting the workshop made you feel comfortable learning and talking about what to do in certain situations. It is especially important for freshmen to do these programs.”

Despite its drop in attendance, the task force will advertise the program as the most popular workshop on campus.

“One of the goals of the task force was to educate students about these issues and develop a community where we’ll see a reduction in these occurrences,” said Diane Pospisil-Kinney, staff counselor for the Counseling and Student Development Center.

Pospisil-Kinney said victims may not report sexual/interpersonal violence because they may not recognize their experience as a crime, feel ashamed of what people will think or blame themselves for being a victim.

“Sexual assault is severely underreported,” said Troy Melendez, a psychologist in the Counseling and Student Development Center.

According to NIU campus crime statistics, there were 13 reported cases of sexual assault on campus in 2002. Four cases were reported as taking place off campus. In 2003, the most recent year for which data was available, there were five reported cases on campus and three reported as taking place off campus.

Victims or students interested in becoming a part of a program can call the Counseling and Student Development Center at 753-1206.