Responding to Campus Climate Data: Developing an Action Plan to Reduce Campus Sexual Misconduct

Hundreds of U.S. institutions of higher education have conducted campus climate surveys recently to assess students’ experiences with sexual misconduct and perceptions of institutions’ related policies and procedures. Many of these surveys were implemented in response to the recommendation by the 2014 White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The several options for campus climate surveys, ranging from free measures campuses can implement themselves to full-service survey implementation packages, have streamlined and facilitated the climate data collection process. Unfortunately, there is little guidance on how institutions can use and respond to their climate data. This article presents a framework that institutions could use to develop an action plan based on findings from their campus climate survey, predicated on a process that begins before the survey is implemented and lasts long after data collection concludes. Each institution of higher education is different, and individual campus action plans can vary based on campus structure, dynamics, and climate survey findings.