Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Campus Climate Report Final v2
Campus Climate Report Final v2
The 2016-17 Cornish College of the Arts Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Violence
and Misconduct reflects the institutions commitment to a thorough, transparent, and honest self-
examination of a problem that affects many students. During the Fall of 2016, students were
invited to respond to the pilot Campus Climate Survey, which was conducted under the
supervision of Jerry Hekkel, Dean of Student Life and Title IX Coordinator. The survey
intended to gather information about student knowledge and experience related to discrimination
and harassment, particularly the spectrum of sexual violence and general perception of campus
climate. Results are intended to raise awareness about student experiences and campus
resources, and to expand the conversation and engagement opportunities related to these
important issues. Cornish College students are invited to provide feedback, comments, or
This document summarizes the results of the survey, the design and methodology used to
produce these results, and provides recommendations for future assessments and programming.
Throughout the academic year, Cornish College staff will work with the community to use the
survey data to answer additional important questions, including how to more effectively address
Definitions
Sexual harassment
Sexual assault
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Domestic violence
Dating violence
Sexual exploitation
Stalking
Retaliation
Intimidation
The above terms are defined in Appendix A (Office of Student Life, 2016).
Background
Title IX and the Campus SaVE Act apply to all post-secondary education institutions that
receive federal funds, including any money used by students who receive funding through
federal financial aid programs. Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a Federal
law that states that "No person in the United States shall, based on 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" (The Margaret Fund of NWLC,
2016). As of March 2014, the U.S. Department of Education has also enforced the Campus
SaVE Act. This update expands the scope of Violence Against Women Act (2014) legislation in
terms of reporting, response, and prevention education requirements around rape, acquaintance
rape, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking (EverFi, 2014; Efforts to
End Violence Against Women, 2014). When filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of
Education, the Campus SaVE Act and Title IX work together to protect every student and hold
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schools accountable by transforming campus culture and eliminating sexual violence and
misconduct.
In 2014, the Obama administration released Not Alone: The First Report of the White
House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. This report offers clear suggestions
for addressing sexual violence and misconduct on campus, including a recommendation that
institutions conduct campus climate surveys to identify and remedy problem areas (White House
Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault, 2014). Additionally, the White House Task
Force created a sample campus climate survey template to help ensure all higher education
campus experience at a given time. Seeking to understand how students experience the campus
gathering and sharing this information is to better understand Cornish Colleges students
perceptions and experiences and to gather a sense of campus climate, particularly related to
sexual and gender-based misconduct. The results are used to further campus conversation and
prevention efforts, as well as to inform future training and outreach (for faculty, staff, and
Cornish College has shown its commitment to creating a safe and positive campus
environment through its well-defined sexual violence and misconduct and reporting policies,
robust Campus Clarity annual online trainings, and various interactive student initiatives and
orientation workshops.
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Cornish College outlines specific policies and procedures that pertain to sexual violence
and misconduct in the 2016-17 Cornish Student Handbook. It states that gender-based
discrimination, including sexual violence and misconduct, is strictly prohibited and any act
committed by members of the community, guests, and visitors will not be tolerated (Office of
Student Life, 2016). All members of the community are expected to conduct themselves in a
manner that does not infringe on the rights of others. The Title IX coordinator is available to
provide information about resources for assistance and about options for addressing concerns
(Office of Student Life, 2016). Resources and options may vary depending on the nature of the
complaint, whether the complainant is a student, faculty or staff member, the wishes of the
complainant regarding confidentiality, and whether the complainant prefers to proceed formally
or informally. The Student Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedure can be viewed in its
entirety in the 2016-17 Cornish Student Handbook, Appendix A (Office of Student Life,
2016).
For the last two years, the Office of Student Life has administered the Think About It
Training for students to ensure compliance with the SaVE Act and Title IX. Think About It is
healthy choices and minimize risks associated with alcohol, drugs, and sexual violence (Law
Room, 2016). Administered through Campus Clarity, this engaging training is designed to help
create a safe campus environment by examining the interconnected issues of hooking up,
substance abuse, sexual violence, and healthy relationships through a variety of interactive,
As of Fall 2015, all incoming first year and transfer students receive this training before
arriving to campus, and are encouraged via email reminders to complete the survey during the
academic year. The goal is to provide students with the necessary confidence and skills to
intervene before sexual assault occurs, to speak out against stereotypes and attitudes that
perpetuate sexual violence and drug and alcohol use, and to support survivors (Law Room,
2016). In addition to the student-version of this training, there is also a separate online training
called Workplace Answers for all faculty and staff, who are required to take the training once a
year. This approach helps create a community of responsibility, where students, faculty, and
Student Programming
April 2016 was the first time that Cornish College observed Sexual Assault Awareness
and Prevention Month (SAAPM), as promoted by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center
(NSVRC). Each year, schools and organizations around the country observe this month by
creating events and marketing campaigns centered around raising public awareness about sexual
violence and educating communities on how to prevent it from happening altogether (National
Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2016). Throughout April 2016, Student Life collaborated
with the counseling center, the student-led organization Cornish Cares, and Heather Mueller, a
graduate student intern from Seattle University, to host a range of student programming on
In addition, Jerry Hekkel and Heather Mueller presented workshops about sexual
violence and misconduct resources and tools at the 2016-17 Orientation on August 31-September
1, 2016 for all incoming first year and transfer students. Jerry Hekkel presented a
guidelines, and how to get help on campus via the Title IX coordinator and counselors. Heather
intervention, equipping students with communication strategies to use in their everyday lives.
Through the efforts implemented during April 2016 and recent orientation, the Office of
Student life communicated with over half of the student population to ensure all students
received messages about preventing sexual violence and misconduct, resources for survivors,
It should be noted that most organizations use the term Sexual Assault Awareness
Month (SAAM) and do not include the word Prevention. However, current best practices
suggest that including the word Prevention adds emphasis that encourages individuals and
organizations to play a role in preventing sexual violence year-round, and not just in April (The
Methods
All enrolled students for the 2016-17 Academic Year received an email invitation from
the Office of Student Life to complete the survey. The survey was designed using the template
offered in the White House Task Force Report (2014), and edited to reflect Cornish Colleges
language and policies. In the survey, students were presented with a brief statement about the
importance of collecting this information, that their participation was voluntary and anonymous,
and were not offered any incentives to take the survey. The survey contained measures designed
to assess the incidence and prevalence of unwanted sexual contact and experiences, intimate
partner violence, and other issues of sexual misconduct including harassment and bullying. It
also contained measures that assessed participants perceptions of the general campus
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environment, perceptions of campus leadership, policies, and reporting practices as they relate to
The survey was administered on October 27, 2016 through Campus Clarity, which
generates a unique invitation link for each student to minimize the risk of duplicate responses.
Students were told that the study was being conducted by the Office of Student Life, under the
supervision of Jerry Hekkel, Dean of Student Life and Title IX Coordinator, and Brittany
Henderson, Associate Dean of Student Life. A reminder message was sent out through a Student
E-Newsletter to encourage response on November 1, 2016. The survey was digitally open from
12:15 PM on Thursday, October 27, 2016 through 12:00 AM on Wednesday, November 16,
2016. The survey was designed to take 15-20 minutes to complete for most respondents who
reported one incident or fewer. Overall, the time to actually complete the survey met this goal,
as the average time to complete it was 15.5 minutes. 108 students of the entire undergraduate
student body (n=673) took the survey via a web-based survey, with 51% of participants
Sample
Participants included in the analyses presented herein were 108 undergraduates between
the ages of 18 and 24, with an outlier of one student under the age of 18, and nine students over
the age of 25. Women made up 57% of the sample, men made up 32%, and 11% reported being
gender neutral, fluid or agender. Participants were primarily in their first or second year in
school (38.2% freshman, 23.5% sophomore, 14.7% juniors, 13.7% seniors) and enrolled in the
beginning of the academic school year (August-September). The majority of the sample (77.2%)
identified as Caucasian/White, with 15.8% of the sample identifying at Asian as the next highest
category. For the remaining participants, 3% identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native,
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2% as Black of African American, 2% as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 6.9% of
participants declined to answer. About half of the sample identified as straight (46%), and the
remaining participants identified as gay or lesbian (13%), bisexual or pansexual (33%), asexual
(3%) or something else (5%). Additionally, about half of the participants live in a Cornish
College Residence Hall on campus (50.5%), and the other half (49.5%) live off-campus either in
Limitations
The response rate was 15.2% (n= 108) with a completion rate of 62%. Originally, we
hoped for minimum response rate of 25% (n=175) and 95% completion rate. While the survey
was sent to the entire undergraduate student population, typical marketing procedures for
conducting surveys on campus were not as effective as usual, yielding a lower response rate.
Despite multiple rounds of edits and reviews, there were duplicate questions in the survey and
issues in logic of how students navigated survey questions, creating technical errors. Depending
on the previous answer, the survey had multiple paths of how to answer questions, which
sometimes led students to the previous question, causing duplicate answers. Both the response
and completion rates may have been affected by the sensitivity of the subject matter as well,
resulting in 46 students to drop out before completing the survey. In addition, we were unable to
view answers to some questions because the responses were protected due to sample size
constraints.
The survey results should be viewed in light of these relatively low response and
completion rates. Since our final rates are not much lower than our predicted rates, the results of
the pilot survey can serve as a foundation for future campus climate surveys and be used for
benchmarking student experiences over time. However, these survey results should not be
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considered a valid measure of rates of sexual violence and misconduct across the entire
undergraduate population. It should also be noted that while faculty and staff must complete
annual sexual violence and misconduct training, no data was collected from faculty or staff at the
Key Findings
91.6% of respondents agree or strongly agree that they feel safe on the schools
campus, however 8.4% of students did not feel safe. Similarly, 45.3% believed the
Almost all of respondents generally believed they are knowledgeable about the resources
available related to sexual violence and misconduct, and 87.1% are knowledgeable about
the topic of sexual assault, including how it is defined, how often it occurs, and what the
from sexual violence and misconduct and 69.7% felt confident in helping themselves or a
While more than half of respondents agreed that Cornish College is doing a good job of
trying to prevent sexual violence and misconduct, the majority of respondents were
When asked what might happen when a student reports an incident of sexual violence or
misconduct to a university official, more than three quarters of respondents believed the
college would conduct a fair investigation. Similar percentages are evident for options
about other types of reactions by the college (e.g. officials would take the report
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seriously; protect the safety of the students; take action against the offender; treat
Overall rates of reporting were low. Of the incidents that occurred on campus during the
others. However, 68.1% of respondents believed that the school is more interested in
protecting students over the reputation of the school, indicating they are likely to report in
the future.
Respondents were more likely to disclose an unwanted sexual contact or experiences with
they did contact someone through the school, students were most likely to get in contact
with administrators, faculty, or other officials at this school before seeking help through
outside resources.
The most common reason for not reporting incidents of sexual violence and misconduct
was that the student did not consider it as a serious enough matter to report. Other
reasons included that no action was taken since it was a private matter and they did not
The majority of students (89.5%) reported that they agree or strongly agree that
campus officials would take seriously a report of sexual violence or misconduct, and 96%
believed that campus officials would protect the privacy of a person making the report.
78% of students reported being knowledgeable about the colleges policy on sexual
violence and misconduct, but 24.4% of students did not understand the legal definition of sexual
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assault and consent. Two-thirds of students (69.1%) reported they would know how to formally
report sexual violence or misconduct and what services are available at Cornish College if they
or a friend are a survivor. Undergraduates in their first and second year have experienced sexual
violence and misconduct programming specific to Cornish College exhibited higher rates of
knowledge of policies and resources then students in their third and fourth year who did not.
While 77% of students in the survey thought Cornish College takes sexual violence and
misconduct prevention seriously, 18% of students believed the institution could do a better job
educating students. In addition, more than six in ten students (67.1%) knew how to intervene as
Perceptions of Risk
The majority of students (91.6%) of students reported that they agree or strongly
agree that they feel safe on Cornish Colleges campus, but 8.5% of students reported that they
disagree or strongly disagree that school officials trying hard to make sure all students stay
safe. Additionally, 18.9% of students reported alcohol abuse as a big problem on campus, as it
Incidence refers to a count of how many unique incidents of unwanted sexual contact or
misconduct occur during a given period of time (e.g., since the beginning of the current academic
year). A total of 5 incidents of unwanted sexual contact and 15 incidents of unwanted sexual
advances, comments, or exposure were reported from our original sample of 108 students. In
Prevalence rates are a count of how many unique people have had an unwanted sexual
experience during a given period of time (e.g., since the beginning of the current academic year).
A total of four students in our sample reported experiencing at least one incident of unwanted
sexual contact, and one student reporting two incidents. Separate from these five students, 15
students reported experiencing unwanted sexual advances, comments or exposure since the
beginning of the year. In addition, one student experienced an incident with an intimate partner.
Two students who experienced unwanted sexual contact identified their perpetrators as
male, two identified their perpetrators as female, and one student declined to answer. Three
students identified their perpetrator as a student, professor, or other employee at Cornish College,
one declined to answer, and one dropped out of the survey. One student identified their
perpetrator as someone they had seen or heard but not talked to, two as an acquaintance, friend
of a friend, or someone they had just met, one as an ex-friend or roommate, and one as an ex-
dating partner or spouse. Students were also asked other questions about their perpetrators, but
When asked where the incident occurred, three students (60%) reported the incident took
place on campus while the other two students (40%) reported the incident took place off-campus
but in Seattle, Washington. Two students reported their perpetrator had been drinking alcohol or
using drugs, two reported their perpetrator was not inebriated, and the last student dropped out
earlier in the survey. Students were also asked if they or other people involved had consumed
alcohol or drugs, but the responses were protected due to sample size constraints.
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Of the five students in the sample who indicated they experienced unwanted sexual
contact, three students told at least one person about the incident, one said they did not tell
anyone, and one declined to answer. Two of the three students who told at least one person
said they only told roommates, friends or family members about the incident. Of the three
students who said they told at least one person, two did not report the incident to anyone at the
school, including school officials, counselors, or local police, and one declined to answer. The
two students who indicated they did not tell at least one person about the incident were asked to
indicate why and were allowed to indicate multiple reasons. The five reasons listed by students
who did not disclose were: (1) the incident was not serious enough to report, (2) it was a private
matter, (3) did not need any assistance, (4) did not want others to worry, and (5) had other things
Of the five students who indicated they experienced sexual contact since the beginning of
the school year, no one indicted they reported it to campus officials, law enforcement, or others.
In addition, they were asked other questions about why they did not report to campus or local
police, how upsetting the incident was, and if it caused problems in the students personal or
academic life, but the responses were protected due to sample size constraints.
Recommendations
While Cornish College is doing an excellent job in many areas of addressing and
preventing sexual violence and misconduct, there are a variety of opportunities for improvement.
The results of the survey will be used to inform college decision-making about policies,
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procedures, education and prevention training and awareness, and communication efforts around
The following are recommendations based on an overview of best practices from other
Similar to the current academic year, all incoming first year and transfer students should
intervention trainings. Since first, second year and transfer students who went to the
mandatory trainings and orientation workshops were more likely to respond to the
o Responsible use of alcohol in a way that does not place blame on survivors of
To reach current students who missed recent events, Cornish College should continue to
administer its Campus Clarity Think About It trainings throughout the year focused on
different topics including definitions of consent and sexual violence and bystander
Since none of the students who indicated they had experienced unwanted sexual
experiences chose to use Cornish Colleges formal procedures to report, the college
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should promote the knowledge of its resources and be more transparent about its formal
reporting policies.
Since one third of students believe the school is more interested in protecting its
reputation over students, the college should consider establishing a student advisory
board that will work with college staff (Cornish College Security, Title IX Coordinators,
and Counselors) in order to engage students and increase transparency. Roles of these
violence and misconduct conduct policies, and create an online training to teach other
campus faculty and staff about the importance of eliminating sexual violence and
misconduct and encouraging students to report if they or someone they know experiences
As a pilot survey, there are also recommendations on how to improve the survey for the
next academic year or next time the survey is adjusted, administered and analyzed:
Construct a team of faculty and staff, graduate assistant or intern, and undergraduate
students to conduct more extensive research and analysis. This would help to
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eliminate errors in the logic of how to respond to questions and duplicate questions
Multiple students addressed the fact that they needed additional choices other than
option of I Do Not Know the Answer to show that students want to respond are not
sure of what to say or do not know the correct answer. Once the student selects the
answer I Do Not Know, survey logic can be used to only ask these students what
might be helpful to ensure they can learn the information they did not know.
Similarly, the survey should include the optional trigger warning as a drop-down
button to allow students to drop out of the survey while still providing valuable
and activating it requires checking a box during survey development. Often times,
students can feel triggered by the topic of sexual violence or misconduct if they or
someone they know has experienced this type of behavior. With this option, even if
students do not complete the survey, we can learn which questions may be
This pilot survey had low response and completion rate, potentially because students
did not understand the importance of the survey, were triggered by the content of
sexual violence and misconduct, or were not incentivized to take a survey. In the
o Create more marketing around the campus climate survey before sending it
out, and find a more reliable way to remind students to take and complete the
Campus Clarity, and the student e-newsletter and two campus wide emails
using the tool provided via Campus Clarity. Prior to administering the survey,
incentives were not offered because there was not a way to protect the privacy
should be done on the process and benefits of using the Campus Clarity tool to
administer incentives. Ideas include a free lunch with a professor, voucher for
There were neither information nor data collected from faculty, staff, or other campus
officials. When resources and time allows, the survey should also gather the opinions
of all school officials to learn how Cornish College can create more effective
trainings, resources, and materials catered to this specific population. By doing so, it
campus climate.
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References
About Vice President Biden's Efforts to End Violence Against Women. (2014). Retrieved
EverFi. (2014). Guidebook - How to Exceed Campus SaVE (Clery Act) and Title IX
Law Room. (2016). About us: Campus clarity by EverFi. Retrieved December 30, 2016, from
https://home.campusclarity.com/about-campusclarity/.
National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). (2016). What is Sexual Assault
saam/about.
Office of Student Life. (2016). Connection 2016-2017 [Cornish Student Handbook]. Seattle,
Washington.
The Margaret Fund of NWLC. (2016). History of Title IX. Retrieved December 30, 2016,
from http://www.titleix.info/History/History-Overview.aspx.
The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. (2016). Presidential Proclamation - National
Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, 2016 [Press release]. Retrieved
office/2016/03/31/presidential-proclamation-national-sexual-assault-awareness-and.
White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault. (2014). Not alone: The first
report of the white house task force to protect students from sexual assault. Retrieved
Appendix A
Definitions
The following definitions are informed by Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 1994,
and are taken verbatim from the Cornish College Student Handbook for 2016-17. Violations of
Sexual Violence Misconduct under the Cornish College policy include, but are not limited to the
relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and where the existence of
the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, the frequency of interaction
gain or maintain power and control over the other intimate partner. Domestic violence
actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate,
manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, inure, or
harm, bodily injury, assault, or the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily
injury or assault, between family or household members; sexual assault of one family or
intercourse (anal, oral, or vaginal), however slight, with any object, by a person upon
sexual touching, however slight, with any object, by a person upon another regardless of
Sexual Assault: Any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs by force or without
consent of the recipient of the unwanted sexual activity. Falling under the definition of
sexual assault is sexual activity such as forced sexual intercourse, sodomy, child
molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. It includes sexual acts against people
who are unable to give consent either due to age or lack of capacity.
viewpoint.
2. Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment: This exists when there are unwelcome sexual
Appendix B
Resources
Jerry Hekkel
Dean of Student Life
Title IX Coordinator
206-726-5111
jhekkel@cornish.edu
Joseph Canfield
Vice President of Human Resources
Deputy Title IX Coordinator
206-726-5004
jcanfield@cornish.edu
Brittany Henderson
Associate Dean of Student Life
206-726-5174
bhenderson@cornish.edu
On-Campus Resources
Off-Campus Resources: