Options Navigation Network (ONN) Expectations and Training

Capitalized terms below are defined in policy.

The Options Navigation Network (ONN), coordinated through the Office of the Vice-Provost (Access, Community and Belonging), is made up of University units in which staff have enhanced training in navigating options for those who Disclose experiences of interpersonal harm, including Discrimination, Harassment and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). They are additionally trained to support Disclosers in understanding enough detail about the options to empower informed decision-making about whether to access the various options available to them, and connect Disclosers to the right person or service to assist them in pursuing a specific option.

Any University employee may take the enhanced training to become an Options Navigator; however, to be a designated Options Navigation Network unit, the director, team lead, chair, or other administrative leader of a University unit will:

• Commit to requiring enhanced training for ONN staff at least once every 3 years
• Commit to enhanced training for new staff when onboarding, to maintain a minimum of 6 trained staff members or 80% of staff in smaller units, as ONN staff
• Appoint one representative to sit on the SGBV Advisory Council

List of current ONN units

Role of ONN

Work with a Discloser to:

• Ensure they understand that they are believed, not to be blamed for what happened, and entitled to support
• Determine their needs
• Discuss, in detail, the options that might meet those needs, specific to the Discloser’s situation
• Review potential benefits and limitations of each option
• Manage Discloser’s expectations vis à vis the University’s role
• Refer the Discloser to appropriate contact person when they express interest in an option
• Where possible, a warm hand-off to the contact person for the option(s) the Discloser chooses

ONN units may be different from those units that provide the process or services

• A unit that provides one of the response options under a university policy -- such as Complaint intake, investigation, adjudication, Interim Measures, Modifications, non-disciplinary options and/or personal support -- may or may not also be an Options Navigation Network unit.
• ONN units navigate and make referrals to the provider units when a Discloser expresses interest in a specific option.

Training

• Required training for ONN staff is detailed in the Policy Application and Interpretation Guide: Education and Training. 
• Any University employee may have access to and are encouraged to take the training, but only those units that meet the above criteria will be identified as Options Navigation Network units.
• The SVRC is responsible for maintaining up-to-date information on options and processes and making the resources easily accessible to ONN units and others who have received training.