Division of Campus Life

Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct

As part of the University’s efforts to strengthen the prevention of and response to gender-based harassment and sexual violence, Brown has periodically asked members of the campus community to participate in campus climate surveys on sexual assault.

2015 Campus Climate Survey

In 2015, Brown was one of 27 institutions to participate in a landmark national survey on sexual assault and misconduct organized by the Association of American Universities (AAU) and administered by the research firm Westat. That survey provided detailed data demonstrating that campus sexual and gender-based harassment and violence is a serious issue confronting colleges and universities across the nation.

Brown’s participation in the AAU survey complemented the work of the University’s Sexual Assault Task Force, which convened in 2014 to develop recommendations to better address sexual misconduct on campus. The Sexual Assault Task Force issued its final recommendations in 2015.

2015 Campus Climate Survey Documents:

2019 Campus Climate Survey

In April 2019, Brown joined 32 other institutions in asking students to share their experiences with, and perceptions of, sexual misconduct on campus through a follow-up survey. Participation in the 2019 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct, once again organized by AAU and Westat, was voluntary and anonymous. AAU has not organized further national surveys, while the U.S. Department of Education was expected in 2023 to lead the development of a survey instrument.

Brown’s goals in participating in the 2019 AAU-Westat follow-up to the 2015 survey were to gain insights into any nuances or shifts in the prevalence of sexual and gender-based misconduct and to explore students’ knowledge and experience related to available resources. Given Brown’s extensive efforts to proactively encourage a culture in which students report incidents of sexual misconduct and seek support, the follow-up AAU survey was also an opportunity to assess the impact of work across campus in the areas of prevention and response.

After the close of the 2019 survey, conducted at Brown over the period of April 4 to May 5, Westat created reports and data tables for each of the 33 participating institutions and an aggregate report that combined data for all of the institutions. It is important to note that the 2019 survey instrument created by AAU and Westat was a revised version of the 2015 survey; it was not a direct duplicate. In some cases, questions remained the same and enabled direct comparisons of 2015 and 2019 data; in many other cases, direct comparisons of the data were not possible given new questions or revisions to how the survey collected information.

On October 15, 2019, Brown released the 2019 survey report developed for its campus to coincide with the AAU’s release of the aggregate report.

2019 Campus Climate Survey Documents: