On Jan. 4, Carleton president Roseann Runte announced that an administration-run sexual assault support centre would be in place on campus by September 2012. Although Runte said there would be opportunity for members of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre to participate in student-run initiatives, several campus groups have criticized the decision for the centre to be largely administration-run.
The Charlatan’s Mei Wang checked in with Sharon Milewski, the manager of the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) student-run sexual assault support centre (SASC), which has been in place since 2004, and Leanne Wruck, the team leader of the administration-led sexual assault support centre at the University of Alberta (U of A), which has been running for 18 years, to talk about the pros and cons of each centre.
Interview with Sharon Milewski (UBC):
The Charlatan (TC): How is the centre run primarily?
Sharon Milewski (SM): SASC is overseen and governed by UBC’s student society, the Alma Mater Society (AMS). Day-to-day operation is run by a paid staff team of three, with much of the work being supplemented by volunteers. One of the positions is held for a student, and two positions are currently filled by students.
TC: How well would you say the centre functions? How do you think it could be made better?
SM: SASC is a highly functioning and well-utilized service that continues to take initiative on how to continue doing the best we can. Partnering with other departments within AMS and UBC and off campus allows for continual growth. While expanding services, SASC is also committed to consistency and ensuring that our work is sustainable and reliable.
TC: What are some of the pros of the centre being student-run?
SM: There are many pros of being student run. One benefit is the ability to change with the needs of new students year-to-year. Another pro is being seen as more of a community peer-run space, which often feels [easier to access] than an administration-run, “professional” setting. Also, being part of the AMS allows for partnerships to easily happen amongst other AMS peer/student run support services.
TC: What are some of the cons of the centre being student-run?
SM: The cons of being student run are having to re-build working relationships with newly elected student executives every March. This is addressed by working with new student executives to ensure they have an understanding of how their position works with SASC.
TC: How do you think sexual assault support centres can be the most effective on campus?
SM: Sexual assault support centres can be most effective by collaborating with already existing programs and support services on campus. By creating partnerships with departments such as residences, counseling and student health services, and by having an active and diverse volunteer pool, the centre will succeed. Of equal importance is creating connections with local community partners, such as rape crisis centres, police and victim services.
Interview with Leanne Wruck (U of A):
The Charlatan (TC): How is the centre run primarily?
Leanne Wruck (LW): Our centre is run by full-time staff members, who work for the University of Alberta. We also have volunteer programs which each year have between 20 to 25 volunteers who are trained to do one-on-one support work.
TC: How well would you say the centre functions? How do you think it could be made better?
LW: Our centre started off with one person who works full-time and over a year we really developed an amazing program and made a lot of different changes and got a great volunteer program. We are constantly trying to look at changes and conditions to what students need and make sure our service is accessible to students.
TC: What are some of the pros of the centre being administration-run?
LW: I think some of the main advantages are ensuring long availability on campus, when you have staff who are fully committed and [long term] — I mean, I have been here for seven years, our former director who left not too long [was] here for 14 years.
We have this commitment to this issue. We really balance our service and are committed to taking each individual who walks to our door and students in general on campus around this issue.
It is hard to take people who don’t know very much about this issue and get them to the point where they are going to be really effective and providing crisis support to people who have been sexually assaulted.
TC: What are some of the cons of the centre being administration-run?
LW: I honestly don’t think there is a single negative consequence if you hire the right people. If you hire people who are . . . ready to be the voice for this issue on this campus, and who are willing to stand up to people within this administration, there is absolutely nothing negative at all.
TC: How do you think sexual assault support centres can be the most effective on campus?
LW: The major thing is to increase service availability. I think it is important on campus to be able to provide opportunities for students to learn about sexual assault and understand what sexual assault is, so they can define their own experiences. Another way to be really effective is to have students involved in the service itself.
These interviews have been edited and condensed.
