The SDSU Research Foundation requires that employees take certain online training courses to comply with federal, state and SDSU Research Foundation policy.

All employees are provided with a username and password to access the online training modules. Training can be accessed through the California State University training portal, CSULearn

The following training courses are deemed mandatory and are periodically reviewed and updated.

i. Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Prevention Program

This course has been designed to help prevent incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace as well as provide guidelines on what to do if such an incident occurs.

California state law requires at least one hour of sexual harassment training for non-supervisory employees within six months of hire and two hours of sexual harassment training for all supervisory employees within six months of hire or becoming a supervisor. This training is renewed every two years.

ii. Gender Equity and Title IX

This course provides practical training for identifying, reporting, and preventing campus sexual violence, as well as assisting victims of sexual assault. Interactive case studies and videos provide engaging educational content that explains how to respond to known or suspected sexual violence, which includes sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. Examples are based on real cases that teach important concepts to build a safe campus community and create a culture that does not tolerate sexual violence. The course teaches employees valuable skills for assisting victims and survivors of sexual violence and reporting sexual violence. It also helps post-secondary institutions comply with the employee training requirements of Title IX and the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (Campus Save Act).

iii. Mandated Reporter

This course is to encourage adults to report suspected abuse or neglect, all 50 states have laws requiring that adults in professions that regularly come in contact with children must report any mistreatment to local government agencies. These laws establish a legal duty to report and penalties for failing to report, while granting immunity and confidentiality to those who report in good faith. Depending on the state, these laws also authorize and encourage adults otherwise not required to report to contact the authorities when they suspect the mistreatment of children.

iv. Understanding Unconscious Bias

No matter the employee, employees are prey to unconscious biases. To be part of a complex, diverse team employees must take steps to overcome implicit and explicit biases and reject social stereotypes. Understanding their own bias, whether conscious or unconscious, is the key. In this course employees learn about the characteristics of unconscious bias and the nature of buried prejudice. Employees discover how they can inadvertently affect thinking and decision-making. And they learn about the positive things that can happen when anti-biased approaches to people and situations in the workplace are taken.

v. Employees Role in Workplace Diversity

To understand and appreciate diversity in the workplace, employees must develop a deep understanding of themselves, as well as any unconscious bias they may have. The employee’s ability to use a variety of strategies to effectively deal with diverse situations is very important. Equally important is the ability to share these effective strategies openly and leverage the diversity that exists within an inclusive organization. In this course, employees explore how to become aware of attitudes toward diversity, understand the source of any cultural biases, and increase acceptance of diverse cultures, people, and ideas. Employees also discover how to become an advocate for diversity and inclusion within the workplace.

vi. Avoiding Conflicts of Interest

Designated employees are likely to encounter decisions where a conflict of interest might arise. This course helps employees navigate such situations by explaining the relevant statutes, regulations, and CSU policies that govern their conduct.

vii. Developing Your Business Ethics

It's not always easy to decide between right and wrong at work. Making ethical decisions can help employees to discern the right thing to do in difficult situations. Employees might think that business ethics are only an issue for upper management, but in fact, every employee should understand the importance of ethical decision making. In this course, employees learn some common myths about business ethics. They learn about different approaches to ethics, the values and standards in a typical code of conduct, and how to develop their own code. They also learn ways to overcome obstacles to ethical behavior and steps for making ethical decisions.

viii. Information Security Awareness

This course explains the importance of keeping private data secure and provides steps that employees can take to maintain the security and confidentiality of private information. This training is renewed every year.

ix. Injury and Illness Prevention

A comprehensive Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) has been prepared by the Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) for implementation at SDSU. The intent of the program is to:

• Facilitate identification and evaluation of workplace hazards.
• Enable the correction of unsafe conditions.
• Provide a means of communication between the university and the campus community on matters concerning employee safety and health.
• Educate and train employees on health and safety matters.
  
  The employee safety training program includes general safe work practices as well as specific instruction on control of hazards unique to each employee's job assignment.

x. Emergencies and Disasters Impact: Workplace Violence

Workplace violence is the threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening behavior that may occur at the work location. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers, and visitors. This series explores ways to reduce the risk of workplace violence.

xi. Emergencies and Disasters Impact: Threats from Outside the Workplace

Employees face various external threats in workplaces when they interact frequently with the general public. Implementing certain security measures and promptly escalating risks to the appropriate authorities and the management can minimize workplace violence. This Emergencies and Disasters course explains different occupational risks and the effective measures to prevent threats from outside the workplace.

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