By Cheyene Miller

[email protected]

The deadline to complete part one of Haven, the online program implemented by the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center, has been extended until March 9.

Originally Wednesday was the last day for students to complete part one of Haven, which educates students on methods to reduce sexual assault on campus. According to VIP director Rhonda Henry, the deadline was extended to accommodate technical difficulties and what turned out to be a small time window.

“We know that it was a short time frame, so we wanted to give people enough time to get this done,” Henry said. “The last thing we want is to put a hold on someone’s account. We think it’s more reasonable to give people more time.”

Henry noted that about 5,000 students completed the Haven program last semester, and about 10,000 have completed part one so far in the spring semester.

According to Henry, only incoming students were required to complete the program last semester, but the university decided to require all students to complete the program in the spring. After the current semester, the university will revert to the original policy of only requiring incoming students to complete the program.

Henry said that the spring would be a “catch-up semester,” in which the program will expand to all students to bolster numbers and increase awareness on campus. She noted that most of the questions students had asked were technical questions, with others providing feedback.

“We’ve had a lot of feedback from people who are survivors who are interested in this,” Henry said.

According to a campus-wide email from UK Student Affairs, UK employees taking classes are also required to take the program, but students who completed the program in the fall are not required to do so again.

The violence prevention tutorial corresponds with AlcoholEdu, the two-part online alcohol tutorial that all incoming students must complete or have a hold placed on their UK account.

According to Henry, Haven was implemented at UK as a means to meet a provision of Title IX that requires colleges and universities to inform students of their resources and policies regarding sexual assault.

Upon completing part one of the program, students will receive an email telling them there will be a 45-day waiting period until they can complete part two, according to the VIP Center website.

Student can email questions and concerns to [email protected]