A campus-wide sexual assault survey has been launched at Keene State College. The anonymous online survey was sent out on October 7 and will be available to students until the end of the month.
All KSC students are asked to complete this survey in order to ensure outgoing attention to the safe, healthy, supportive and respectful environment at KSC, according to Director of Institutional Research and Assessment Cathy Turrentine.
According to Turrentine, the survey is intended to provide information to the college on the prevalence of sexual assault in the student community as well as the effectiveness of KSC’s response when an assault is reported.
The survey asks questions about any sexual violence a student may have experienced. All students are asked to participate to collect data, but participation is voluntary. Many students may find that they need to stop the survey due to some distress they may feel. A student who begins the survey may stop at any time. Students also have the option of skipping questions they feel uncomfortable answering, according to Turrentine.
Turrentine said if a student wishes to have a confidential setting in which to discuss a sexual misconduct experience, there are resources available at the Counseling Center, the Center for Health and Wellness or the off-campus MCVP: Crisis and Prevention Center.
Coordinator of Sexual Violence Education and Prevention Forrest Seymour said this survey is “a giant leap forward.” He said this survey is a great way to get a sense of how the students feel about these issues.
Seymour said he hopes this survey is recognized as “a powerful thing” and said he hopes for high participation.
“I think it’s scary, some colleges don’t want to know,” Seymour said about the survey’s results. More than 27 institutions nation-wide have released their results of sexual assault surveys, according to Seymour.
Title IX Coordinator Jeff Maher said the college has not yet determined how much, if any, of the survey results will be released to the public. Maher’s job as Title IX Coordinator entitles him to coordinate the college’s response to issues of sexual misconduct and relationship violence.
Maher said KSC created this improved survey after the White House Task Force sent out a nation-wide report in April 2014 to help protect students from sexual assault. The report stated the first step to prevention is campus climate surveys.
As a first-year staff member at KSC, Maher said much of the survey discussion took place prior to his time at KSC. Regardless, Maher said he was involved in deciding what type of information the college wanted to receive and how the survey was going to be offered to students.
“What we’re trying to determine is the prevalence misconduct here on campus,” Maher said. He said the college hopes to gain some information to determine students’ attitudes and awareness towards the issues of sexual misconduct.
“By receiving this information in [an] anonymous form, we not only hope to get accurate information, but hope that the data will help craft a better response to the issues of sexual misconduct,” Maher said.
Maher said this survey is “just one step in the process.” By gathering data, the college is able to identify the problem of sexual misconduct and learn how much of a problem there really is, according to Maher.
“This helps us to determine with actual data as opposed to rumors,” Maher said.
Maher said he is hoping for 100 percent participation from KSC students but understands it may not work out that way. He said this survey will help KSC to learn what can be done differently at the college to benefit the students.
Questions on the survey aren’t just aimed at students who have experienced sexual misconduct. The college is asking all students to participate.
Once the survey has been submitted, students will have the chance to enter a drawing to win a $100 KSC Bookstore gift card.
Also, at the end of the survey there are links to KSC’s Sexual Misconduct Policy and direct resources for students who experience sexual assault or sexual misconduct. If a student ever feels violated or a victim of sexual misconduct, they are encouraged to take advantage of the on-campus resources available to them. Anyone can contact the Center for Health and Wellness at (358-2450) or MCVP at (352-3782).
MacKenzie can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com