Vaillancourt Wins National Honor for HR Video
(From left) Andy Brantley, president and CEO of CUPA-HR; Allison Vaillancourt, UA vice president for human resources; and Jack Giarusso, chairman of the national board of directors for CUPA-HR.
Allison Vaillancourt, the University of Arizona's vice president for human resources, was honored this month by a national organization for her role in creating a harassment prevention video for use on college campuses nationwide.
The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources presented Vaillancourt with the organization's Kathryn G. Hansen Publication Award, named for a former president of the organization, during its national conference in Las Vegas, held Oct. 19-21.
Vaillancourt was one of three recipients of the award, which recognizes individuals who have authored or created a publication, journal article, DVD, Web-based learning program or CD-ROM product that has contributed significantly to the human resource administration field.
She and the two other awardees were honored for their work on an instructional harassment prevention DVD titled "Lines of Reasoning: Perspectives on Harassment in Higher Education," produced last fall.
Vaillancourt, a former president of the association, had the idea for a harassment prevention DVD tailored for use in higher education about three years ago. She helped coordinate the project and wrote the script for the DVD, which is available to college campuses through the association.
While other harrassment education DVDs are aimed at the corporate world, "Lines of Reasoning" is designed for the needs of colleges and universities and provides examples of scenarios specific to the higher education arena.
Drama students from the University of Central Michigan perform on the DVD in common campus settings, like classrooms and student unions.
"There's an air of authenticity," Vaillancourt said. "In corporate videos, it's people in suits across boardroom tables."
The UA uses an online harassment training program instead of the DVD.
Vaillancourt, who nominated her two fellow award recipients – Kathy Reddick of the College of Saint Elizabeth and Kevin Smart of the University of Central Michigan – and presented them with their awards in Vegas, said she was taken by surprise to learn that she, too, would be honored.
The Kathryn G. Hansen Publication Award is one of five National Higher Education Human Resource Awards given by the HR association, a nonprofit organization based in Knoxville, Tenn., that serves more than 11,000 human resource professionals at more than 1,700 colleges and universities.