Student-centric campus climate surveys on sexual harassment and sexual assault are well validated. They are widely used by colleges and universities to measure and understand student victimization experiences, describe the related campus culture, and assess sexual assault prevention and response efforts. These climate surveys provide campuses with a more nuanced understanding of sexual victimization than may be gathered from other sources of data (e.g., official reports). Climate surveys can also help identify institutional and cultural factors that influence victimization rates and survivor willingness to report, or seek help and support. For more information on the most well-validated measures, see Planning and Implementing Your Campus Climate Survey within the OVW Campus Program Funding Cycle.
Category: Campus Climate Survey
The Value of Capturing Faculty and Staff Perspectives in Campus Climate Surveys
Comparing Commonly Used Survey Platforms for Collecting Your Campus Climate Survey Data
Schools interested in conducting student climate surveys on sexual misconduct have a lot of decisions to make. For a web-based survey, you will need to determine what survey platform to use to administer it. Web-based surveys are commonly used because they can quickly reach large numbers of students via email or text message, and the survey platforms typically have built-in data management and analysis systems. Advancements in mobile data collection have resulted in many survey platforms offering a mobile-compatibility option, which means students can easily take the survey on their computer, tablet, or mobile phone, without any additional programming needed. There are many commercially available survey platforms for administering campus climate surveys. This factsheet is intended to help inform decisions about which one to use
Improving Climate Survey Data through Higher Response Rates and Sample Representativeness
Conducting a student climate survey on sexual misconduct can have many benefits to institutions of higher education. Climate survey data can help schools develop prevention programs, allocate victims’ assistance resources, and modify policies in a data-informed way, based on the actual experiences and opinions of students. However, to be meaningful, the data must reflect the entire student body at a given school. Many schools have found that only a small proportion of students who are invited to take the survey actually do so. Low response rates are the biggest challenge to climate surveys and often make it difficult to have confidence in the data. When very few students participate in a survey, it raises concerns that the data may not be representative; in other words, students with certain characteristics (e.g., women, freshmen) or experiences (e.g., a history of sexual violence victimization, involvement in advocacy efforts) may be more likely to take the survey than others. Schools would not feel comfortable making important decisions that affect all students based on data from small or biased samples. Therefore, schools interested in conducting climate surveys need to plan carefully to maximize response rates and ensure sample representativeness
Planning and Implementing Your Campus Climate Survey within the OVW Campus Program Funding Cycle
Campus climate surveys can be used to track sexual misconduct prevalence rates or to evaluate the success of campus- wide victim services and prevention programs. Climate surveys can also be used to identify programming and service needs on campus. For this reason, many institutions want to use a climate survey as a needs assessment in Year 1 of their Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Campus Program projects. However, to allow for thoughtful planning and to ensure the success of the survey, implementation in Year 2 is likely to be more productive. With a Year 2 spring survey administration in mind, this factsheet provides step-by-step guidance (with links to additional resources) and a recommended timeline for planning and implementing a climate survey within the OVW Campus Program structure
Campus Climate Survey Validation Study (CCSVS) Implementation Guide
This document contains key resources for schools of higher education interested in using the Qualtrics-programmed version of the Campus Climate Survey Validation Study (CCSVS) survey instrument to conduct a student survey. These resources and the programmed Qualtrics survey file are available free of charge to any institution of higher education that has a Qualtrics license and is interested in conducting a student survey to document the school’s prevalence of sexual assault, other forms of misconduct, and the campus climate related to sexual misconduct.
Alternatives to Climate Surveys for Understanding Sexual Misconduct on Your Campus
Although campus climate surveys can be useful for assessing programming and service needs, evaluating services, and generally tracking prevalence rates over time, they aren’t the right option for every institution. This fact sheet describes alternatives that can be used in lieu of climate surveys or in conjunction with climate surveys to better understand sexual misconduct on your campus.
Considerations for Conducting Climate Surveys at Minority-Serving Institutions and Community Colleges
This fact sheet provides resources and tips for why and how to adapt campus climate surveys to meet the unique needs of minority serving institutions and community colleges. The information and general principles are applicable to adapting surveys at any institution, but the examples and the student needs identified apply to these specific types of institutions.