The first component is an educational poster placed in all the computer centers on campus that explains what constitutes harassment and what to do if harassed. A list of phone numbers, including campus police, counseling staff, and student affairs officers gives students ample opportunities to register a complaint or discuss an incident with a staff member. Additionally, all complaints can be sent to a single email address, which serves as a direct path to senior directors in MIT's Informational Systems. They then respond to complainants and initiate appropriate action. The advantage of the email address is that users need not worry about whom their complaint goes to, they simply write to the stopit email address.
Staff responses to the stopit messages are generally quick.
Initially, a standard response is sent to alleged perpetrators of harassment, improper use, or other uncivil behavior. User Accounts can help you to change your password and re-secure your account. According to G.A. Jackson, director of Academic Computing at MIT, two interesting outcomes ensue. First, many recipients of the note say their accounts have been compromised, and change their passwords, even when evidence shows that they were personally the offenders. Second, and most important, the recipients of the note almost never repeat the offending behavior.