2023 Title IX Campus Climate Survey

Consistent with New York State Education Law 129-B and policies of The State University of New York, Jefferson Community College participated in the 2023 University-wide Biennial SUNY Uniform Campus Climate Survey on April 3, 2023. The Survey gathered information about student and employee experience with sexual and interpersonal violence and knowledge of policies and resources. 108 students and 130 employees completed the survey, for response rates of 7.6% and 36.4%, respectively.

The survey is required to address, at minimum, 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.

In reviewing the student results, we highlight that the survey…

Indicated 75 percent of the respondents are aware that our campus has policies and procedures in place to specifically address sexual assault.
45 percent of the respondents know how to contact the Title IX Coordinator and understand the role of the position.
On average, roughly 56 percent of the respondents had received written and/or verbal communication about the definition of sexual assault, how to report sexual assault, where to go for help, whom you can speak to confidentially, and policies prohibiting sexual assault.
82 percent of respondents indicated familiarity with affirmative consent.
65 percent of respondents know how to report sexual assault/sexual harassment and “strongly agree” or “agree” that the College would take the report seriously, conduct a fair investigation, and provide students with the necessary support during the process.
52 percent of the respondents know about SUNY’s alcohol and/or drug use amnesty policy in reporting sexual violence. There are opportunities to improve this statistic.

The following areas were identified as areas for improvement from the survey and the College will address these concerns in 2023-2024.

While 45 percent of the respondents indicated they knew how to contact the Title IX Coordinator, another 49 percent indicated they did not know or were not sure. This is an area that the campus will need to improve upon with communication and disseminating this information to the campus student body.
Although 66 percent of the respondents indicated they know how to report sexual assault/sexual harassment, another 30 percent indicated they did not know how to report. Training will also be improved upon in this academic calendar year.
While we were disappointed with the overall response rate of 108 students, 7.6%, this number is almost double compared to the 2021 administration of the survey. The College will work on the timing of the survey administration and promotion during the next cycle.

Jefferson Community College, working with SUNY and community colleagues (including students, faculty, and staff), will use this information to improve response to violence, ensure pertinent information is provided to campus entities, develop prevention programs, and will continue to study the issue. The next SVP Campus Climate Survey will be administered in Spring 2025. More information about the survey is available at https://www.suny.edu/climatesurvey/.