Register for Mentors in Violence Prevention training

The University will host a three-day “Train the Trainer” session for Jason Katz’s Mentors in Violence Prevention model Tuesday, Jan 20, through Thursday, Jan. 22, at the Student Health Center.

Katz, an educator and author, co-developed the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) model. He and his team have spearheaded the idea of gender equity in the dissemination of the violence prevention message since the early 1990s.

The Center for Wellness Promotion is hosting the three-day training in conjunction with the Northeastern University Center for the Study of Sports in Society. Registration is $500 per person and includes meals and program materials.

MVP takes a prevention approach to gender violence, bullying and school violence; it encourages young men and women from all socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds to take on leadership roles in their schools and communities. The training is focused on an innovative “bystander” model that empowers each student to take an active role in promoting a positive school climate.

The training will consist of role play scenarios intended to allow students to construct and practice viable options in response to incidents of harassment, abuse or violence. Participants learn there is no “one way” to confront violence, but that each individual can develop valuable skills to build personal resolve and to act when faced with difficult or life-threatening situations.

Nicole Madonna-Rosario, interpersonal violence prevention specialist in the Center for Wellness Promotion, said this MVP Train the Trainer session is targeted to faculty and staff at UNC Charlotte and other higher education institutions that have an advisory or leadership role with students and student leaders. “The goal of the session is to provide staff and faculty in key roles across the University the opportunity to become a trainer in the MVP model.

“The MVP program will provide a unique perspective to the campus bystander intervention program and an opportunity for the attendees to collaborate and work together to develop and implement the curriculum in many different departments on campus,” added Madonna-Rosario. “We will have the space to create something really powerful as a team to create shifts in the conversation not just about violence prevention but about gender roles and language and how this influences our students at each level of their growth and development as students here at UNC Charlotte and beyond.”

For more information, email Nicole Madonna-Rosario.