Tech Meets Narrative: New App Address Campus Sexual Misconduct

In a press release, the Association of Title IX Administrators (known as ATIXA) championed a new app called U of Nine. The purpose of U of Nine is to help “colleges and universities to educate students and employees about sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, alcohol abuse, and stalking.”

Why is there a need for the app? ATIXA explained, “U of Nine is approaching the problem of campus sexual misconduct from a fresh, potent and technologically savvy perspective – engaging students on these important topics via their mobile devices.” The press release went on to say, “Legal protections are in place, but we need more.” The U of Nine app was not designed to replace prevention programs and training, but to “reinforce the content of those programs and to help students and employees better engage with that content effectively.”

ATIXA’s Executive Director Brett Sokolow reiterated the unique appeal of the U of Nine app, “There are a lot of solid online products helping colleges to prevent sexual violence, so we designed U of Nine to fill a gap that other products do not. Every year, colleges are required to provide ongoing awareness and education campaigns, and our app-based approach takes those campaigns to students and employees, wherever they are, on demand. There is no magic prevention pill, but we’re adding our expertise to the concerted effort to make campuses safer for students and employees.”

It is a “cost-effective way to offer awareness and education content for hard-to-reach audiences” such as community college students, online students, and students studying abroad. The quizzes themselves are five questions, and in the words of the press release, “These easy to play quizzes can be sent to students at any time via push notifications to reinforce Title IX content during the school year for continual learning and compliance.”

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