FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Title IX Office invites students to take part in the 2019 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct. The survey is a part of a continuing effort to better understand student perceptions and attitudes related to sexual assault and sexual misconduct. Students can take the survey now.

Students will also receive an email reminder from the Title IX Office today, April 10. The address for the sender will be TitleIX@uark.edu. The email will explain the purpose of the survey, with a direct link to the survey.

The survey takes less than 30 minutes to complete, and will be live through the end of the month. Several hundred students have already completed the survey after an initial email notice wa sent out on April 1.

Individual survey responses are confidential. Students who participate in the survey will have the opportunity to enter a drawing to win one of two $100 gift cards to the University of Arkansas Bookstore.

The U of A administered a similar survey in 2017. Students who took part in that survey are asked to complete this one, as well. The U of A Title IX Office plans to analyze the new survey data to guage whether student attitudes and opinions may have changed over the past two years.

“The campus climate survey is an important tool in the ongoing effort to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct while working to prevent future misconduct,” said Tyler Farrar, the Title IX coordinator. “The survey is designed to help identify specific concerns within the campus community -- including student awareness regarding reporting options, campus procedures and resources for victims of sexual misconduct – and to enable us to act on these concerns.

"The 2017 survey indicated that almost 83 percent of students felt safe at the university. However, 48 percent indicated that they did not know how to report sexual assault. This number concerned us and led to increased training initiatives and increased marketing of the Title IX Office and its role on campus.” 

The Office on Violence Against Women in the U.S. Department of Justice considers a campus climate survey to be a best practice in combatting sexual violence, saying "schools that conduct their own climate survey - rather than rely on national or regional data - are better equipped to address campus sexual assault because they have data that specifically describes their community."