Sexual Assault on U-M Campus: Challenges, Policy, & Prevention | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Date & time

Feb 16, 2017, 4:00-5:30 pm EST

Location

Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium
735 S. State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow.

Join the conversation: #policytalks

This event is made possible in part through the generous support of the Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A. Darling Health Policy Fund

About the event:

This panel will provide a 360 view of the issue of sexual assault and misconduct on college campuses, particularly how research, awareness, community action and policy intersect around a public health issue. Panelists will discuss the significance of sexual assault survey research, the role of the U-M Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness Center, Title IX compliance policies, and student perspectives on the issue of what has been done and what still needs to be accomplished. 

About the speakers:

Professor William Axinn is a research professor at the Institute for Social Research, professor in the Department of Sociology, a faculty affiliate at the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies and a professor of public policy. He is a sociologist and demographer whose research interests center on fertility and family demography. Axinn’s program of research addresses the relationships among social change, the social organization of families, intergenerational relationships, marriage, cohabitation, fertility and mental health in the United States and Nepal.  He also studies the interrelationships between population and the environment and new techniques for the collection of social science data. More recently in his career, Axinn’s interests have evolved to include public policy applications of his research. His teaching centers on the family, the life course, fertility and research methods.

 

Professor Pamela Heatlie is an attorney who represented institutions of higher education for 15 years. Her legal practice was wide-ranging, with a particular emphasis on employment law and student-related legal issues. She now serves as the senior associate director of the University of Michigan's Office for Institutional Equity, where her work focuses on creating a welcoming and inclusive campus environment. She is also the University's deputy Title IX coordinator. Heatlie's particular areas of expertise include civil rights law and related investigations, diversity initiatives, and legal and compliance issues related to affirmative action.

In addition to her work at U-M, Heatlie speaks nationally on a variety of civil rights issues affecting higher education, including Title IX compliance. Most recently, in response to a White House task force report, she has worked with the National Center for Campus Public Safety to develop training related to Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigations and Adjudications. She also has taught Legal Issues in Higher Education at Eastern Michigan University and the University of Vermont. Heatlie received her BA with highest distinction from Wayne State University and her JD from the University of Michigan Law School.

 

Holly Rider-Milkovich currently serves as the Senior Director of Prevention Education, EverFi. As the former Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at the University of Michigan (SAPAC), Ms. Rider-Milkovich provided direction and leadership to the University’s sexual and intimate partner violence response, education and prevention efforts across campus. Ms. Rider-Milkovich also co-chaired the Abuse Hurts Initiative, a cross-campus effort to address the effects of domestic violence in the workplace and connect survivors to appropriate campus and community-based resources.  Ms. Rider-Milkovich is the former Executive Director of a three-county domestic violence prevention and services program and emergency shelter in southeast Georgia and provided state-level leadership while serving on Executive Board of the Georgia Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.  She has worked in teams with law enforcement as a Police Response Advocate and has experience as an Emergency Room Advocate for an urban SANE program. Ms. Rider-Milkovich has taught women’s studies courses at the college level and has expertise in curriculum development and evaluation as well as program development, implementation and evaluation.

 

Emma Zorfass (BA '17) is from Port Washington, NY, and has been volunteering and working for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) since her freshman year. Along with public policy, Emma is pursuing minors in Economics and Applied Statistics. She is particularly interested in education and economic policy.