Campus climate survey in February
February 6, 2019
This February the University of Alaska will initiate a climate survey for students
to voice their experiences with sexual violence or harassment and how they perceive
such violence. This is an opportunity for students to anonymously share their experiences since
attending the university and to guide university leadership in Title IX and campus safety
decisions.
Brad Mystrol, director of the UAA Justice Center, is administering the survey on behalf
of the entire UA system. Annual climate surveys are part of the university’s Voluntary
Resolution Agreement with the Office for Civil Rights.
A random selection of 10,000 undergraduate and graduate degree students will receive
an email invite to complete the survey. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. Students
who complete the survey will receive an offer for a $10 Amazon gift card. Contact
information will not be tied to survey responses.
Student engagement in the survey provides critical information to university leadership for
improving campus programs, awareness and prevention efforts. Conducted over a period
of time, climate surveys reveal trends such as decreases in sexual assault, increases
in reporting and increases in awareness. They can identify particular campus issues,
which gives Title IX offices the ability to tailor prevention efforts.
The survey will assess how frequently University of Alaska students experienced acts
of sexual violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and dating violence. It will also
address related issues, such as a student’s experience with reporting an incident,
peer issues, campus alcohol and drug use, attitudes about consent, prevention and
intervention, and perceptions on how the university community is addressing sexual
violence.
The goal of the survey is to improve safety on all UA campuses and ensure that sexual harassment
and violence incidents are prevented to the greatest extent they can be, and that
when incidents do occur, they are dealt with properly.
Because the survey concerns sexual assault, some of the climate survey’s questions are
explicit and could potentially trigger a response in a person who has experienced sexual
trauma. Each university has a Title IX office with support resources, counseling contacts
in the community and other tools to assist those coping with sexual violence.
Resources for all campuses in the UA system are listed at https://www.alaska.edu/titleIXcompliance/.