Major Research Universities Outline Their Commitment to Addressing Sexual Assaults and Misconduct

The Association of American Universities has issued a new report detailing how its 62 member institutions have enacted or changed policies and procedures dealing with sexual assaults and misconduct on their campuses. The Association of American Universities is made up of major research universities that combined receive more than half of competitively awarded federal funding for academic research. Two of the member institutions are Canadian universities.

The association sent surveys to all 62 members and 55 institutions completed the entire survey. All but one of the 62 members provided examples of actions they had taken to address sexual assault and misconduct.

The returned surveys indicated that all responding institutions have surveyed their student bodies at least once since 2013. All of the responding institutions indicated that they had changed or are in the process of changing their education and training programs for students and faculty  regarding sexual assaults and misconduct. Almost all of these institutions have changed training for staff in this area. Forty-six universities reported that they had implemented new programs or interventions for specific student populations or types of students.

All of the responding institutions have developed, redefined, or enhanced programs to help victims of sexual assault or misconduct. More than 90 percent of the universities said they had increased financial resources to address issues of campus sexual assault.

The full study, AAU Campus Activities Report: Sexual Assault and Misconduct, may be downloaded here.