All degree seeking undergraduate, graduate, and professional students will be invited to participate in the survey.

Westat is an independent third-party research firm. Vanderbilt has contracted with them to administer the survey and analyze the results.  Westat is sending you emails on behalf of Vanderbilt to learn more about how intimate partner violence affects the student community and how we can continue to improve campus resources.

This survey should take most people approximately 20 minutes to complete.  It may take up to 30 minutes for some individuals depending on their responses.

When you complete the survey, the link between your survey responses and your email and IP addresses will be broken so that no one will be able to connect your email or IP address with your survey responses. Information on who completed the survey will not be provided to Vanderbilt or any others. The results will be presented in summary form so no individual can be identified.  However, if we learn about child abuse or about a threat of harm to yourself or others, we are obligated to report it to the authorities.

Vanderbilt last conducted a campus climate survey on sexual assault in the spring of 2015. That survey, along with the Provost’s Task Force on Sexual Assault and the work from many campus partners resulted in critical improvements to a number of campus services.

The AAU will publish a comprehensive report in the fall of 2019, at which point Vanderbilt will also be able to release a Vanderbilt specific report to the community.

In order to understand the climate at your school, the survey needs to ask direct questions about topics that some may find sensitive. It is only by directly collecting this information from you that your school will be able to help prevent negative experiences and effectively respond when they do happen.

Some of the language used in this survey is explicit and some people may find it uncomfortable, but it is important that we ask the questions in this way so that you are clear what we mean.  Information on how to get help, if you need it, appears on the bottom of each page and at the end of the survey.

No, this survey is for everyone, regardless of gender identity or experiences.   The survey will be used to shape policies that affect everyone on campus, so it is very important that you provide your experiences and viewpoint.

If only victims of sexual assault and sexual misconduct participate in the survey, we will have a very lopsided view of your campus.  To get a complete picture of your college, we need to hear from as many students as possible.

All students who participate in the survey have the opportunity to enter a separate drawing for one of ten $100 Amazon gift cards.

Additional information about the survey is available in the two MyVU articles:

• Vanderbilt to participate in AAU’s 2019 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct– October 4, 2018
• Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct Now Available – February 1, 2019
  

If you have any questions about the study, contact Vanderbilt’s university representative: Olivia Kew-Fickus at olivia.m.kew-fickus@vanderbilt.edu. If you need support, please call the Project Safe Hotline: 615-322-SAFE (7233) or visit Project Safe’s website for more information.