The Cook County, Ill., Sheriff’s Office is offering training and resources to help colleges address sexual assault on campus. Here's how you can get involved.Anyone involved in the American higher education community is keenly aware of the spotlight that’s now on campus sexual violence. With the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR)  and state governments paying much closer attention to the issue, colleges and universities are being forced to reassess how well they respond and investigate claims of sexual assault.

According to many experts, as well as reviews conducted by OCR, institutions of higher learning need to improve how they handle these very challenging cases.

One organization that is working to help campuses on this issue is the Cook County, Ill., Sheriff’s Office. Jan Russell, who is an attorney with the department, as well as its policy counsel on violence against women and coordinator for its prison rape elimination program, heads up the effort to provide training and resources to local colleges and universities who need help handling claims of sexual assault.