Campus Climate Assessment Policy

Climate assessments afford institutions the opportunity to better understand their campus and to make informed decisions when it comes to providing a safe educational environment. Beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year, each State University of New York State-operated and community college will conduct a uniform climate survey that ascertains student experience with and knowledge of reporting and college adjudicatory processes for sexual harassment, including sexual violence, and other related crimes.

The survey will address at least the following:

• Student and employee knowledge about:
  
  
  • The Title IX Coordinator’s role;
  • Campus policies and procedures addressing sexual assault;
  • How and where to report sexual violence as a victim/survivor or witness;
  • The availability of resources on and off campus, such as counseling, health, academic assistance;
  • The prevalence of victimization and perpetration of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking on and off campus during a set time period (for example, the last two years);
  • Bystander attitudes and behavior;
  • Whether victims/survivors reported to the College/University and/or police, and reasons why they did or did not report.
  • The general awareness of the difference, if any, between the institution’s policies and the penal law; and
  • The general awareness of the definition of affirmative consent.

Every institution shall take steps to ensure that answers remain anonymous and that no individual is identified.  Results will be published on the campus website providing no personally identifiable information shall be shared.

Beginning in the spring semester of 2015, the Chancellor or designee will convene a group of scholars and practitioners to review methods of assessing campus climate, specific questions asked in past surveys, relevant data on responses and response rates, issues and problems encountered in survey implementation, and lessons learned from past surveys. The Chancellor or designee will gather this data and seek to develop a standardized survey, with the advice of relevant members of the SUNY community and knowledgeable outside entities, that uses established measurement tools, to be implemented every two years by all SUNY State-operated and community colleges beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year. This policy may be changed by the Chancellor or designee should federal and/or State legislation require a different process or duplicate efforts to assess campus climate via survey.