Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

The University of Dayton is a highly
residential campus with approximately 6,600 traditional-aged undergraduates.
 In fact, 95% of our undergraduates live in University-owned housing;
traditional residence halls, apartments or a neighborhood of single-family
homes adjacent to the academic core of campus.  The institution is
also urban, private and religiously affiliated (founded in 1850 by a male
Catholic religious order, the Society of Mary, aka the Marianists).  


At least partially because of the factors
above, alcohol use and abuse is a serious issue for UD's student body.
 Though we don't have hard data to back it up, many students, staff
and faculty believe sexual misconduct and sexual assault is also a major
problem.  As a result, the Women's Center has teamed up with Residential
Programs to form a broad-based Task Force comprised of key personnel from
Student Development, Campus Ministry, Public Safety (campus police), University
Legal Counsel, the Women's Center and several faculty leaders to conduct
a comprehensive review of all our sexual misconduct and sexual assault
related policies, practices and protocols.  To give a sense of their
charge, I've attached here a draft  mandate for the group.



At the Task Force's first meeting last
week, we discussed at length how to approach these issues first from a
student perspective.  We hope to then take the perspective of our
student body and compare it to information on best practices from other
institutions before making recommendations for any needed changes.  So
this presents our first big challenge, i.e. how to gather student input.
 We discussed climate surveys, focus groups, open and targeted group
discussions, but realized that many other institutions have gone through
this process before us, and we might as well learn from their (your) experience.
 Hence this inquiry to my listserve colleagues.

If any of you have been involved
in a process of collecting broad-based student input on sexual assault
at an institution similar to UD, please respond to me directly with information
on how I can get back in touch with you by phone or e-mail.  Specifically,
I'd like to know how you determined the magnitude of the problem (S/A)
at your institution, what barriers to reporting did you identify, what
methodologies / instruments did you use to gain student input.   Thank
you in advance for your assistance.

Lisa Rismiller
Director, Women's Center
University of Dayton
#201 Alumni Hall
Dayton, OH  45469-0322
Phone 937-229-5390 (main)
            937-229-5592 (direct)
Fax 937-229-5334

www.womenscenter.udayton.edu

Attachment: TF Mandate.doc
Description: Binary data