| Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, December 30, 2017; News Roundup | |
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| abb | Dec 30 2017, 04:37 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/uva-survey-of-respondents-say-sexual-assault-misconduct-problematic-on/article_74aa95b2-ece0-11e7-bf49-7f2e961d9f19.html UVa survey: 25% of respondents say sexual assault, misconduct problematic on Grounds BY RUTH SERVEN 12/29/17 A smaller number of students believe sexual assault and misconduct are serious problems at the University of Virginia now than in 2015, according to a survey released earlier this month. In a campus climate survey, 25.1 percent of respondents said sexual assault and misconduct were “very” or “extremely” problematic at UVa, as opposed to 39 percent of respondents in a survey two years ago. The 2017 survey, distributed randomly to 5,000 students across Grounds, is the second conducted at the university. In 2015, UVa was one of 27 higher education institutions that participated in a survey by the Association of American Universities. Both surveys show that while awareness of campus resources and trust in university officials are increasing, assault and misconduct still occur and are perceived to occur with frequency. The purpose of the 2017 survey, according to the university, was to estimate the prevalence of sex violence in the 2016-17 school year; look at how students see the climate surrounding sexual assault and misconduct; and assess student knowledge of resources available. “We’ve had an uptick in training and outreach for students and staff,” said UVa’s Title IX coordinator, Emily Babb. “We did see in the climate survey an increase in awareness of our office, but we’re looking to increase that even more.” According to the 2017 survey, a majority of the 2,726 respondents said they believed the university would be supportive and protective of students reporting sexual assault, and an increasing number said they believed university officials would take action against an offender. According to the survey, in the 2016-17 school year, 12 percent of female undergraduate respondents reported incidents of sexual assault by physical force, threat of physical force or incapacitation, a slight decrease from 2015. By contrast, 3 percent of male undergraduate respondents reported having been sexually assaulted by physical force, threat of physical force or incapacitation. Forty-five percent of respondents said it is very or extremely likely that officials would take action against an offender, up from 28 percent in 2015. The 2015 survey had 5,500 respondents at UVa, and about 150,000 nationwide. It was conducted just a few months after the scandal surrounding a sensational article in Rolling Stone — which was discredited after its release — that accused the UVa administration of downplaying sexual assault. “In 2015, the university adopted a new Title IX policy, and at the same time was doing a climate survey,” Babb said, describing increased staffing and resources to handle sexual assault and misconduct. “Across Grounds, the university has added additional confidential resources, such as the women’s center and counseling and psychological services.” The Title IX Office, Babb said, also wants to increase the number of groups engaging in conversations about sexual assault prevention with the office, and it has increased its numbers of in-person, tailored trainings. Though news in 2015 focused on sexual assault, recent high-profile accounts of sexual harassment, including allegations made against UVa creative writing professor John Casey, have drawn more attention to the topic. Graduate students were less likely to be victims of sexual assault and harassment, but were more likely to face harassment from faculty and staff, according to the 2017 survey. “The survey results indicated that graduate students have slightly less awareness of our office and our policies,” Babb said. “We’ve put on our horizon to reach out and improve our training. One thing we know practically is that graduate students come in through a variety of ways; they don’t come in through a first-year orientation like an undergraduate student does.” Students with disabilities and LGBTQ students also need more outreach about Title IX policies and resources, Babb said. Reporting periods in the 2015 and 2017 surveys were a little different, said Sarah Schultz Robinson, assistant director of UVa’s Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies, which administered both surveys. The questions were the same in each survey, to give consistent data, though Robinson said that concerns about one or two questions might lead the university to tweak them in future surveys. Surveys are only one mechanism to get a glimpse of student perspectives, Babb said. UVa plans to conduct online surveys and hold recurring focus groups in the future. The university also released the 2016-17 Report on Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Other Forms of Interpersonal Violence, which showed that UVa’s Title IX Office resolved 40 reports of prohibited conduct, with 16 of those resulting in sanctions. Correction A previous version of this story online used a different data set. It has since been updated. Ruth Serven is a reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact her at (434) 978-7254, rserven@dailyprogress.com or @RuthServen on Twitter. |
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