Conference Information:
The one-day conference took place on August 11, 2016. It was hosted by
Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
A diverse group of presenters from a variety of large and small commuter campuses and community agencies educated attendees. The keynote speaker was Professor Jennifer Drobac from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. You can access the conference program here.
The conference was open to the following constituents:
- Campus professionals (staff, faculty, and administrators) at commuter, non-residential, and regional campuses involved in sexual violence prevention efforts
- Researchers examining best practices in sexual violence prevention for commuter campuses
- Professionals at community organizations (rape crisis centers, domestic violence agencies, youth organizations, etc.); professionals at high schools and elementary schools; and police officers and prosecutors wanting to strengthen relationships with their local commuter campuses
- Graduate student leaders on their commuter campuses, or graduate students conducting research on sexual violence prevention
- Undergraduate student leaders on their commuter campuses
Why was this conference focused on commuter campuses?
Over the past few years, sexual violence prevention and response efforts on university campuses have dramatically increased. However, many programs and efforts seem to be designed to appeal to students who live on traditional, residential campuses. Social norms campaigns, bystander intervention trainings, and primary prevention programs that appeal to residential students may not be effective for students who attend commuter, non-residential, or regional campuses, for a variety of reasons. We hoped that this conference would provide a collegial, supportive space for campus professionals, student leaders, and their community partners to network, share ideas and strategies, and brainstorm about best practices about how to effectively engage commuter students and create comprehensive sexual violence prevention efforts for their campuses, as well as beyond their campus boundaries.