VVSRL team awarded new NIJ grant

VVSRL team awarded new National Institute of Justice grant to support the development of a campus strengths and needs assessment with Nebraska Indian Community College

This National Institute of Justice funded project (15PNIJ-21-GG-02809-RESS) supports a new partnership between Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) and UNO researcher Tara Richards, Ph.D. (PI) and doctoral student research assistant Sheena Gilbert as well as Emily Wright, Ph.D. (Co-I, Urban Institute).

Consistent with a community-based participatory approach, this project will first establish a NICC Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Advisory Board with representation from NICC community members (i.e., students, staff, and faculty). The GBV Advisory Board will work collaboratively with UNO/Urban Institute researchers to (1) complete an organizational assessment of NICC’s strengths and needs for the prevention of and response to GBV on campus and among NICC community members, (2) identify areas for new partnerships or where partnerships may be strengthened to increase service capacity for GBV among NICC community members, and (3) develop a culturally centered campus climate survey instrument to assess NICC community members’ experiences with, knowledge of, and access to resources regarding GBV.

Findings from the proposed project will support policy and procedural changes regarding NICC’s response to its stakeholders’ health, wellbeing, and GBV experiences; the culturally centered campus climate survey will be available for NICC to identify areas of need and create necessary changes.

Project activities will also support a longer-term goal of applying for an Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) Campus Grant, which would provide NICC funding to develop and strengthen culturally centered strategies to GBV and increase victim services and prevention education and awareness programs.

This collaboration will also provide a replicable model for other tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) that are interested in enhancing prevention and intervention efforts for GBV among their own stakeholders.