The University of Oregon is conducting its first student-directed employee survey to gather information regarding student disclosures of sex- or gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence.
All university employees designated as student-directed employees are being asked to participate. They will receive a link to the survey via email and can access the survey on the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance website.
The survey is part of the UO’s student sexual and gender-based harassment and violence complaint and response policy which requires the Title IX coordinator to collect annual reports without identifying information from student-directed employees.
Under the policy, most employees are student-directed and have specific obligations to help a student connect with resources following the student’s wishes. All employees who are not designated reporters or confidential employees are student-directed employees.
“Understanding in broad terms what kinds of disclosures student-directed employees are receiving gives us a more accurate idea of the overall number of incidents occurring for our students,” said Darci Heroy, associate vice president for civil rights and the UO’s Title IX coordinator. “As the majority of university employees are designated as student-directed employees, their experiences can offer us insight into how best to support employees in this role, what additional types of training may be needed and what barriers students may be experiencing in accessing resources and support.”
The policy, which was implemented in fall 2017, establishes three employee categories with specific reporting obligations: student-directed employees, designated reporters and confidential employees.
The information collected through the survey will be used to identify potential patterns, give a better idea about incidents, and notify students and student-directed employees of available resources.
“It will be important to see what trends emerge from the survey around reporting and which resources students are directed to most frequently,” Heroy said. “We will be able to use the results of this survey to provide further context for the results of our other efforts on campus such as the 2019 Clery Report and 2019 AAU Campus Climate Survey. All of this information is intended to help us understand how to better support our students and employees.”
The survey will be open Aug. 15 through Sept. 6. For more information about the survey, including a link to take the survey, visit the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance website.
—By Jesse Summers, University Communications