Administrators' perceptions of college campus protocols, response, and student prevention efforts for sexual assault.

BACKGROUND

Sexual assault disproportionately affects college students. Because most survivors do not report sexual assault, research has explored individual factors related to the reporting, with limited research exploring institutional-level factors related to victims' decisions to report their experiences.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this research was to describe three key areas: (a) campus assault adjudication, (b) protocols and campus responses to assault, and (c) provision of student prevention education regarding sexual violence.

PARTICIPANTS

A nationally representative sample of 1,067 campus administrators responded to a survey regarding institutional sexual assault policies and procedures.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that although many institutions are responding adequately to sexual assault in these three areas, improvements are possible. Implications for improving campus responses and further research are discussed.