SUNY Climate Survey

Executive Summary

On April 10, 2023, our campus began an online administration of the Sexual Violence Prevalence (SVP) Campus Climate Survey. This survey was administered to students and employees and 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 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 results, we highlight that the survey indicated that students and employees are generally aware of Upstate policies and procedures that address sexual assault and harassment, and that students are generally aware of where formal complaints of sexual assault on campus can be filed.

The survey also indicated that more information, outreach, and follow-up are needed to share resources and reporting options to employees. In anticipation of this need, and after the 2021 Climate Survey, SUNY Upstate implemented a live training program for all employees in a supervisory/managerial capacity to provide them with information on reporting, and aims to expand this training to all employees.

If you have any questions about the survey or the results included in this report, please contact the Office of Institutional Equity at [email protected], or 315-464-9590.

Background

The SVP survey is administered every other year by all SUNY campuses, who work closely with SUNY System Administration to coordinate the survey administration itself. An effort is made to keep the questions from one administration to the next as consistent as possible to allow for reliable and meaningful longitudinal data. System-wide IRB review takes place for each survey administration.

Our campus administered the survey between April 10 and April 21, 2023, and an invitation was sent to all eligible survey participants. Excluded survey populations were individuals under 18 years of age, all incarcerated individuals regardless of age, and all students concurrently enrolled in high school regardless of age.

Results

Upstate had 142 students and 1,841 employees submit a survey response, for response rates of 10% and 20%, respectively. Both are a decrease from participation rates in 2021, where response rates were 27% for students and 22% for employees. Upstate notes that in 2021, SUNY System offered incentives for completion of the survey to students, which were not offered in 2023.

Of the students completing the survey, 16% reported experiencing unwanted sexual comments, sexual slurs, or demeaning jokes during the past year, approximately one third of which were made by a person affiliated with the Upstate community.

Twenty-eight employees reported receiving a disclosure from a student over the course of the last year that the student had been a victim of an unwanted sexual experience (including sexual assault), domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, regardless of where such incident was reported to have occurred. Of these, half were reported to the Title IX Coordinator.

Of the employees completing the survey, 9% reported experiencing unwanted sexual comments, sexual slurs, or demeaning jokes during the past year, approximately two-third of which were made by a person affiliated with the Upstate community. Approximately 17% of employees who experienced unwanted sexual comments, sexual slurs, or demeaning jokes during the past year reported those experiences to a supervisor or other campus office.

Discussion and next steps

The information gathered from the 2023 Climate Survey will be used to focus Upstate’s training regarding reporting discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment and sexual assault. Upstate encourages all students and employees to report incidents of discrimination and harassment to the Office of Institutional Equity, to better enable Upstate to provide a learning and working environment where all feel welcome.

Consistent with New York State Education Law 129-B and policies of The State University of New York, SUNY Upstate participated in the 2021 University-wide Biennial SUNY Uniform Campus Climate Survey.

The survey gathered information about student and employee experience with sexual and interpersonal violence, and knowledge of policies and resources. Upstate had 409 students and 1,872 employees complete the survey, for response rates of 27% and 22%, respectively. Both are an increase from participation rates in 2019, with student response rates more than doubling that of the 2019 climate survey.

In the survey, data was broken down by gender categories. It is important to note that of the students who took the survey and identified as male, gender non-binary, transgender, genderqueer/gender-fluid, questioning/unsure, or who preferred not to respond, the responding numbers were too low to share accurate statistics for these gender categories.

• Fifty-one students reported that they were subject to verbal sexual harassment in the prior year. 47 of these students identified as women; the remaining 4 reports consist of numbers too low to share corresponding gender identity statistics.
• Thirty-six students reported that they were subject to online/electronic sexual harassment in the prior year. 27 of these students identified as women; the remaining 9 reports consist of numbers too low to share corresponding gender identity statistics.
• Of the students who responded, 84% indicated familiarity with affirmative consent, 91% are aware of the campus policies and procedures addressing sexual assault, 69% know how to report sexual assault within Upstate, and 48% know how to contact the Title IX Coordinator.

SUNY Upstate, working with SUNY and community colleagues (including students, faculty, and staff), will use these data to improve response to violence, develop prevention programs, and will continue to study the issue. The next climate survey will be administered in the spring semester of 2023. More information about the climate survey is available at https://www.suny.edu/climatesurvey/.

The 2019 survey results for SUNY Upstate and other SUNY schools are located here:

• 2019 Student Survey results
• 2019 Employee Survey results