The Division of Inclusion and Equity is inviting students to take part in the University’s first comprehensive interpersonal violence campus climate survey, which will launch on November 1. Students who complete the survey will automatically be signed up for a chance to win a range of prizes including parking passes, $250 in Paw Points, $25 Amazon gift cards, football tickets, and premium seating for an ACC baseball game.
The survey, which is voluntary, is the result of a collaboration between the Academic Affairs, Clemson University Police Department, Division of Inclusion and Equity, Division of Student Affairs and the Clemson Students for Survivors Coalition.
The goal is to gather data that will help Clemson University administrators understand the experiences students have on campus regarding gender-based discrimination, harassment and interpersonal violence. The data will be used to assess what the University is doing well and where it can improve, which can help determine the distribution of resources to address sexual discrimination, harassment and interpersonal violence.
The survey comes at a serendipitous time as Domestic Violence Awareness Month concludes on October 31 and this year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that makes it so “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
According to Alesia Smith, Clemson’s Title IX Coordinator, this is the first robust, comprehensive effort to gain a greater understanding of the steps the University needs to take institutionally.
“It’s rare for the University to allow us to survey everyone — usually they only survey a representative sample — so that speaks to how important this is for Clemson,” Smith said. “Every student who wants to will have a voice in this survey.”
Smith said Clemson has sanctioned smaller initiatives to fight sexual harassment and interpersonal violence over the years, but this is the first time something will be done at this large a scale, which will give the best overview yet of where Clemson is as a community.
“The hope is we will see what we’re doing well, and what we’re not doing well, and that will help us identify areas where additional resources are needed for additional training, programs and services,” she said, adding that the data collected will benefit a wide range of stakeholders outside the student body. “It will help many other areas including the Clemson University Police Department, Student Affairs, Housing and Dining, Athletics, Inclusion and Equity as well as faculty and staff.”
Students wishing to participate in the survey can go to this link, which goes live on Nov. 1: https://clemson.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9zAQHw5g923GVKK