Creating Safer Ohio Campuses Initiative

Free Campus Climate Survey Available! 

ODVN in partnership with Dr. Sandra Ortega has created a campus climate questionnaire that measures perceptions of safety regarding relationship violence (dating and domestic violence), sexual assault, stalking, and sexual harassment. The questionnaire also measures several prevailing social norms on campus. The questionnaire is evidence-based and is available for FREE to any Ohio campus or any campus across the United States. To preview the ODVN campus climate questionnaire in pdf format click here. This version includes a religiosity scale to measure faith as a protective factor for faith-based institutions. Additionally, the research base for this instrument is included in citations at the end.

We at ODVN strongly suggest working with your allied organizations! If you are working for a state agency make sure to work with the state domestic violence and/or sexual assault coalitions. If you are working on campus, make sure to reach out to your local domestic violence program and/or rape crisis center. Memorandum of Understanding is the best and clearest way to make relationships transparent as possible as you engage in campus-based work.

Feel free to reconstruct this questionnaire in your institution’s preferred online format. You will need a statistical analysis package such as SPSS to fully analyze data collected to identify themes and trends.

The questionnaire can be transferred to your institution’s ProPlan Survey Monkey account and then modified to meet your specific campus context/needs. Contact Rebecca Cline at rebeccac@odvn.org for more information.

Second Edition newly released! A Safer Campus: A Guidebook on Prevention and Response to Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking for Ohio Campuses. This edition published in March 2016, is a repository of helpful information ranging from preparing your campus for prevention and intervention to recovering from incidents on campus. This guidebook sets forth best practice recommendations for prevention and response to campus sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking.

Need model policies? ATIXA has what you need. Model policies and MOUs between Rape Crisis Centers and Universities are offered. Currently, most of the work across the US have been related to sexual violence and these policies and MOUs can easily be modified to support your work related to intimate partner violence and sexual assault. As you do this work, be sure to link in your local domestic violence program and/or rape crisis center as they are essential for best practice models.

 Additional resources for Campus IPV/SV Prevention and Response:

• Check out the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s Changing Campus Culture Initiative and resources available for Ohio’s colleges and universities (page down to find them).
• College Student’s Intimacy Guide – This guide discusses communication boundaries for intimate situations, has FAQs about sexual health in college, and includes expert advice from Nicole Cushman, former Director of Education for Planned Parenthood and current co-chair of the American Public Health Association’s Sexuality Task Force.
• Explore additional resources on our sister coalition’s website at the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

Are you interested in joining the Ohio Campus Safety Task Force?

Contact Rebecca Cline at rebeccac@odvn.org.