The Association of American Universities is planning to administer a national survey to all 60 colleges in its system. This survey fall in fall 2015. This will be nearly a year after UO professor Jennifer Freyd published the results of her Campus Climate survey, which found that one in 10 women on campus have been raped.
The University of Oregon learned about the AAU’s plans to develop a nationwide survey last spring, and they originally disapproved of Freyd’s plans to conduct her survey. However, the UO has expressed its willingness to take part in AAU’s survey once it is finalized, according to Jennifer Winters, communications director of public affairs communications at the UO.
“These survey results shine a light on a terrible, unacceptable problem,” UO Interim President Scott Coltrane said. “It shows us we have a lot of work to do. …We are also interested in participating in national efforts to create and use a standardized climate survey tool in the future. The better we understand the issues here on campus and across the country, the better we can respond.”
The AAU began developing plans for a national campus climate survey on sexual assault in May, after a White House task force brought up the need for such a survey, according to Politico.
“[We] want to get ahead of this issue before a federally designed survey is mandated for us,” AAU President Hunter Rawlings told member institutions.
Right now, AAU is developing a pilot that will act as a trial before the actual survey tool is launched in Fall 2015.