Campus climate survey in February

February 6, 2019

Tori Tragis

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/.