Sexual misconduct climate survey distributed for second year in a row

Leah McClure
Wed, 20 Apr 2016 02:57:02 +0000
Campus, climate survey, data, featured, ohio state, Sexual misconduct, survey

Ohio State statistics from the Association of American Universities’ 2015 national campus climate survey on sexual misconduct and relationship violence. Credit: Denny Check | Managing Editor for Design

A survey assessing the climate of sexual misconduct and relationship violence on Ohio State’s campus will be available for all graduate, undergraduate and professional students to take until Monday at midnight. This is the second year the university has distributed the survey.

The survey — which was distributed by email — will be used to enhance Buckeyes ACT, OSU’s plan for combatting sexual misconduct and relationship violence, according to a statement written by the Vice President of Student Life Javaune Adams-Gaston, who emailed out the survey.

Gaston said in the email that the survey will help ensure “a safe and healthy climate for students and the entire university community.”

Anne McDaniel, associate director of research and data management for the Center for the Study of Student Life, said that some changes were made to the survey from last year “for clarity and length, as well as to make it more applicable to Ohio State’s students.” However, she said that overall, no substantial changes were made. Results from this year’s survey will be released in the fall.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous, but McDaniel said that broad participation is encouraged. More than 10,000 responses to the survey have been collected as of Tuesday morning.

“Participating in the survey provides the university with an overall picture of the experiences and opinions of the student body,” McDaniel said.

The survey includes questions about personal experiences with sexual misconduct and relationship violence, whether OSU’s campus and surrounding areas feel safe, and knowledge and usage of resources related to sexual misconduct and relationship violence available at OSU.

OSU’s sexual misconduct policy defines sexual misconduct as “conduct of a sexual nature or conduct based on sex or gender that is nonconsensual or has the effect of threatening, intimidating, or coercing a person.” This includes sexual violence, stalking, unwanted comments or touching and relationship violence.

In 2015, the university’s response rate was 18.1 percent, compared to the national response rate of 19.3 percent. Of those respondents, 24 percent of female undergraduate students reported experiencing incidences of nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force, threats of physical force, or incapacitation. About 5.3 percent of male undergraduate students reported experiencing similar attacks.