WAVE Subcommittee on Campus Climate and Sexual Harassment

The goal of the Campus Climate and Sexual Harassment subcommittee is to evaluate Vanderbilt’s campus climate, especially as it relates to perceptions of an individual’s safety, inclusion, and sense of community on campus. Another focus of the subcommittee is to understand the impact of sexual and gender harassment on university climate for undergraduate students, graduate or professional students and faculty.

Membership

  • Mary Lauren Benton, Graduate Student in Biomedical Informatics
  • Kelsea Best, Graduate Student, Vanderbilt Graduate Student Association President
  • Francis Burton, Undergraduate Student, Vanderbilt Student Government President
  • Tina Iverson, Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmacology
  • Isaac West, Associate Professor of Communication Studies

Charges

  1. Assess the current undergraduate, graduate, professional, and faculty perceptions of campus climate through the aggregation and synthesis of currently available data. The committee will begin by considering results of recent surveys on the undergraduate student population.
  2. Evaluate the current landscape of campus climate survey instruments to identify relevant data sources, as well as missing or underrepresented populations or climate-relevant subject areas.
  3. Develop a set of recommendations for improving the campus climate based on conclusions from the survey results.

Timeline

February – May 2019

  • Generate list of available data sources and relevant upcoming surveys
  • Begin work on undergraduate-focused climate report

May – September 2019

  • Identify campus populations underrepresented in available survey results and recommend survey instruments to fill gaps
  • Expand climate report to include graduate/professional students and faculty

October 2019 – January 2020

  • Draft initial recommendations based on current report
  • Prepare final draft or plan next steps and the continuation of committee work