A recognized leader across Ohio for its innovative healthy relationship and bystander intervention program, Not Without Consent, and a new participant in the national Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy, Wittenberg University has now partnered with the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) on a benchmark study tied to the state’s $2 million broad-based Changing Campus Culture Initiative to end sexual violence on college campuses.
Launched in fall 2015, the Changing Campus Culture Initiative is “designed to help all of Ohio’s colleges and universities – public and private, two-year and four-year – prevent and better respond to incidents of sexual violence,” according to the ODHE. Phase one of the comprehensive effort involved administering a campus climate survey in addition to collecting common data points, or benchmarks, for ODHE.
Results of the just released study show that Wittenberg students report at higher rates than the aggregate (other four-year private institutions) in several key areas related to sexual assault prevention and education. These include:
- Receiving training in university policies, procedures and prevention.
- Having a desire to learn more about the important issue of sexual violence on college campuses.
- Being actively involved in projects to address and end sexual violence on campus.
- Knowing whom to contact on campus for support.
Additionally, the study’s findings suggest that the university’s ongoing efforts to foster a culture that encourages reporting of sexual violence appear to be working, too.
“We want to thank the Ohio Department of Higher Education and Changing Campus Culture Initiative for leading this benchmark study,” said Casey Gill, Wittenberg dean of students. “These are excellent data points that we can use in our evidence-based planning and response efforts at Wittenberg. As an institution of higher education committed to lifelong learning, we also look forward to using this data to educate our community even more about the resources available to them and to further improve the quality of our training prevention programs, as well as enhance our policies and procedures.”
In launching the Changing Campus Culture Initiative, Ohio became one of only a handful of states to attack the issue of sexual violence at the highest level. The survey alone had 22,000 respondents, and 81 percent of Ohio colleges and universities participated in the benchmarking study.
The five-part overall initiative “calls for campuses to adopt five recommendations aimed at preventing and responding to sexual violence: (1) Use data to guide action – specifically, an annual campus climate survey; (2) Empower staff, faculty, campus law enforcement and students to prevent and respond to sexual violence through evidence-based training; 3) Communicate a culture of shared respect and responsibility; 4) Develop a comprehensive response protocol; and 5) Adopt a survivor-centered response.”
For the past three years, Wittenberg has implemented “Not Without Consent (NWC),” a mandatory education and prevention program for all incoming students. The program was recently awarded the 2 Days in May Promising Practice Award from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Office. Also this past spring, Wittenberg was among several Ohio institutions that received funding from the ODHE’s grant program to support the Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy with the goal of permanently reducing power-based personal violence.
