Vanderbilt University will soon launch a campus survey on sexual harassment in response to the Provost’s Sexual Misconduct and Prevention Committee recommendations.
The survey, which was created in partnership with the social science research firm AnswerKey and is set to launch on April 2, will record the experiences of faculty members and postdoctoral fellows on campus.
“We are committed to a healthy, safe and nondiscriminatory environment at Vanderbilt,” Susan R. Wente, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said. “The survey results will help shape university policy in this area moving forward.”
All responses will remain confidential, and the collected data will be reported in terms of groups as opposed to individual cases. AnswerKey will put together a summary analysis of the survey results to share with the university once the response period ends.
Vanderbilt is also one of 33 institutions participating in the Association of American Universities’s Student Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct to understand the effects of intimate partner violence on the student community and how to improve its response to such incidents.
Lately, many campuses have been undertaking surveys on sexual misconduct that have forced colleges to employ various initiatives and mandatory training programs to curb incidents of sexual assault and harassment.
Last month, the Johns Hopkins University announced new bystander intervention trainings for students, additional trainings for staff working in student health and campus security positions, and an increase in its survivor support resources.
Earlier this year, Dartmouth College rolled out a new Campus Climate and Culture Initiative, while Michigan State University launched the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program as well.
Johns Hopkins Announces Initiatives to Counter Hike in Sexual Assault Cases