More than 1,200 students cannot sign up for spring courses because they have yet to complete state-mandated training.

Interim Provost Susan Ford said more than 1,200 incoming students are unable to sign up for next semester’s classes because they have not finished the Step Up and Haven programs.

“We’ve tried emailing students and contacting them in other ways multiple times, but we don’t really have any other way to reach them,” she said.

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Chad Trisler, director of Student Rights and Responsibilities, said a total of 6,500 students including freshmen, transfer, graduates coming into new programs and those returning from extended breaks need to complete the programs to register.

He said Step Up is an in-person program designed to inform students on techniques to safely intervene on violent incidents  as bystanders. Haven is an online program that trains students to avoid becoming victims of sexual assault and gender violence.

“This isn’t supposed to be something that keeps you out of school,” Trisler said. “It’s supposed to be something to keep you safe while you’re here.”

He said out of the remaining 1,200 students who need to complete their training, most are undergraduates.

Trisler said students may not know about the training because they neglect their SIU email accounts, did not think the university was serious or genuinely did not know about the training.

Trisler said both programs are a result of the Violence Against Women Act, which took effect in April. He said if the university were to be investigated and failed to comply with the law, Illinois could withhold all state funding.

“Basically they can shut down the university if we don’t comply with this law,” he said.

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Trisler said 60 percent of people needing to complete the Haven program did so after the university held their registration status in September.

“I can say the holds were very effective,” he said. “While they were, I’m sure, frustrating for students who suddenly realized they had a hold, it got most of the job done.”

Trisler said earlier in the semester the university offered incentives such as free flash drives, but now the holds are the university’s last attempt to get students to complete the training.

“At the end of the day, we have to comply with this law, so if you’re going to be a student you have to have done this,” he said.

Trisler said 1,500 students were surveyed about Haven and most gave positive feedback.

He said student reactions were less easy to assess with Step Up, which included interactive videos.

“We didn’t really have a high bar to cross,” he said. “But we try to make it as minimally painful as possible and people appreciated that.”

Judson Behm, a senior from DuQuoin studying psychology, said one of the required classes for him to graduate was nearly full by the time he could complete the training.

“I thought my hold was just on paying my bill before I registered, and I did that,” he said. “And then I had to get into a psychology class and there were only four slots left.”

Behm said he completed the training in time, but believes the hold should have been announced earlier.

Sami Miller, a freshman from Overland Park, Kan. studying psychology and criminal justice, said she enjoyed the programs.

“They were helpful,” she said. “I don’t know if a lot of people took them to heart because some people took them as a joke but I’m glad that they do it.”

Miller said the programs could be received better by becoming more serious, but she understands some people will not comply so easily.

“It was going reach the people who it was going to reach,” she said.

Trisler said there have been 75 Step Up training sessions, and four more will be available after Thanksgiving break.

He said all the counseling and Student Rights and Responsibilities staff volunteer to run the programs, with no additional expenses for extra sessions.

Trisler said this will be a requirement for all incoming students for the foreseeable future, and freshman and transfer students will complete Step Up at new student orientation.

Marissa Novel can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @marissanovelDE or at 536-3311 ext. 268.