The University of Oregon will join 32 of its peer institutions as participants in the Association of American Universities’ national campus survey on sexual assault and misconduct.
Launching in spring 2019, the survey is a follow-up to the landmark 2015 AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct, which surveyed more than 150,000 graduate, undergraduate and professional students across 27 universities.
The 33 universities participating in the 2019 survey have a combined enrollment of more than 870,000 students at all levels, so it is expected to be among the largest of its kind.
“Working to create a safe campus free of sexual harassment and violence is critical,” said UO President Michael H. Schill. “We learned valuable insights from the last survey, which has informed our prevention and response efforts. We are pleased to have the opportunity to participate again.”
The AAU and the 33 participating universities have contracted with Westat, a leading social science research firm, to conduct the survey and analyze survey results.
“I am really pleased we have the option to customize the survey, meaning we can both gain new insights and compare results from the previous survey,” said Darci Heroy, associate vice president and Title IX coordinator. “This information will help us focus our efforts and understand where we need to improve as we strive to create an environment on campus where students can be successful. The data we collect not only helps us better understand national trends but also shines a light on how we compare and what we can do to better support students here at the UO.”
A committee was appointed this summer to oversee the survey, including some customization of questions within the survey to meet UO-specific prevention, support and response goals. The committee is a joint effort of the Office of the President, Division Student Life, Office of the General Counsel and Office of Institutional Research and will consult with campus stakeholders, including the University Senate’s Committee on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and the Associated Students of the University of Oregon.
The committee includes:
- Darci Heroy, associate vice president/chief civil rights officer and Title IX coordinator, Office of the President.
- J.P. Monroe, director of institutional research, Office of Institutional Research.
- Jeffrey Todahl, associate professor, couples and family therapy program.
- Renee Delgado-Riley, director of assessment and research, Division of Student Life.
- Jessica Haymaker, sexual violence response support services coordinator, Office of the Dean of Students.
- Melissa Barnes, doctoral student; research assistant coordinator, Freyd Dynamics Lab, Department of Psychology, College of Art and Sciences.
- Cressa Perloff, graduate student, prevention science; project coordinator, Exploring Computer Science, College of Education.
- Kerry Frazee, director of sexual violence prevention and education, Office of the Dean of Students.
- Doneka Scott, associate vice provost for student success, Division of Undergraduate Studies; courtesy clinical assistant professor, educational methodology, policy and leadership, College of Education.
- Jennifer Winters, assistant vice president for content strategy, University Communications.
A team of university experts and Westat is developing the survey, based on the 2015 AAU survey. The survey will capture the characteristics and frequency of campus sexual assault and misconduct and assess campus climate in a manner that protects student confidentiality while allowing for data sharing across universities.
“Our primary goal is student safety,” said Mary Sue Coleman, AAU president. “AAU universities are committed to protecting students, and we believe this survey will contribute to the growing body of research on this topic to better inform campus policies and procedures. As university leaders and as academics, we believe that one of our best courses of action to better address sexual assault and misconduct is with data.”
Undergraduate, graduate and professional students all will be invited to participate in the survey. The AAU will publicly release aggregate results from across the participating universities. Westat will provide each institution its own data and the UO will release a report on the data collected, as it did during the last survey.