Building an Effective University Infrastructure

Executive Summary The status quo institutional response to sexual violence is decentralized and disorganized. On an average college campus, sexual violence is viewed as a student affairs issue and a small prevention office struggles to coordinate efforts and keep up with ever increasing legislative mandates. Sexual misconduct policies and procedures are outdated and don’t address the range of unwanted sexual behavior students experience throughout their time on campus. Prevention education primarily occurs at new student orientation, and faculty and staff are unaware of their reporting and support role. A robust sexual violence task force distributes the responsibility of addressing sexual violence across the campus community. Individuals who represent a variety of stakeholder groups on campus are strategically identified and invited to join the sexual violence task force. A core planning group sets the task force agenda and work plan and has the final say in decision making. Surveying the current landscape of sexual violence on campus informs task force efforts. In order to effectively address sexual violence, the task force must understand the current state on campus. The task force should map out campus “hot spots” where assaults are most likely to occur. Conducting interviews with campus constituents can reveal attitudes and behaviors in regards to sexual violence that are prevalent on campus. Lastly, an audit of existing prevention programming can identify duplicative efforts and gaps in training. Overarching student learning outcomes guide all prevention programming on campus, and assessment is embedded from the outset. One-off sexual violence prevention events do not lead to long-term changes in student attitudes and behaviors. A comprehensive prevention education strategy should be put in place that progressively builds students’ knowledge and skills over time. Rigorous assessment directed by engaged…