All reports that come to OSMRC are recorded in our internal database. This allows our office to monitor the campus climate for patterns and take action to address a possible hostile environment.

 

The reports in this section are organized by incident type. We classify reports based on the best information we have available. Reports that we receive vary greatly in how detailed they are. While we always start by believing, it is important to understand that not all reports lead to an investigation or an adjudicated policy violation.

 

A single report may include multiple incidents and/or multiple incident types. Report including multiple incident types are reported under each incident type category.

 

Click to enlarge.

 
 
 
 

 

Summary: 4-year comparison of reports received

Incident type 2013 2014 2015 2016
Sexual assault  54 83 100 123
Sexual harassment  108 114 128 124
Dating/domestic violence  45 57 73 107
Stalking  20 35 43 94
Sexual exploitation and intimidation 12 17 32 22

 

 

Affiliation of the reporting party

 

The affiliation of the reporting party determines the university’s ability to provide accommodations. The reporting party does not need to be affiliated with the university in order to have a complaint option.

 

The “affiliation unknown to the UI” category includes reports in which the party’s affiliation was known but not disclosed to the UI. These data reflect reports in which the responding party was student, staff, faculty, unaffiliated, or of unknown affiliation.'

 

Some reports have more than one reporting party, and some reports contain more than one incident type.

 

Click to enlarge.

 
 
 
 

 

Summary: Affiliation of the reporting party in 2016 reports

Incident type Student Staff Faculty Unaffiliated Affiliation unknown to the UI
Sexual assault  89 10 0 13 11
Sexual harassment 77 29 2 2 14
Dating/domestic violence 71 11 1 19 5
Stalking 63 12 10 7 2
Sexual exploitation and intimidation 11 4 0 1 6

 

Affiliation of the respondent
 

The affiliation of the respondent determines whether the university has jurisdiction to investigate, which policies apply, and which offices might be involved in responding. If a respondent is not affiliated with the university, our ability to take action is limited. Student conduct investigations are conducted by the Office of the Dean of Students under the Code of Student Life and the Sexual Misconduct, Dating/Domestic Violence, or Stalking Involving Students policy. Employee conduct investigation are conducted by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity under the Sexual Harassment Policy.

 

The “affiliation unknown to the UI” category includes reports in which the party’s affiliation was known but not disclosed to the UI. These data reflect reports in which the reporting party was student, staff, faculty, unaffiliated, or of unknown affiliation.

 

Some reports have more than one respondent party, and some reports contain more than one incident type.

 

Click to enlarge.

 
 
 
 

 

Summary: Affiliation of the respondent in 2016 reports

Incident type Student Staff Faculty Unaffiliated Affiliation unknown to the UI
Sexual assault 23 6 2 36 56
Sexual harassment 32 38 6 6 44
Dating/domestic violence 41 3 1 49 14
Stalking 42 2 0 37 14
Sexual exploitation and intimidation 4 3 1 5 9

 

Incident location

Tracking the locations of reported incidents OSMRC to identify and address possible patterns. The location of incidents is also important for data collection related to the Clery Act, which requires that campuses report information about crimes committed on campus or areas adjacent to campus.

For the purposes of this report, “on campus” refers to reports in which at least one incident took place in a campus building, including academic buildings, residence halls, and the hospital; in campus parking lots and public areas; in fraternity and sorority houses; and in buildings controlled by our university, such as dorms in a university-sponsored study abroad program. “Off campus” refers to reports in which at least one incident took place at a reported off campus location. “Unknown” refers to reports in which no location information was shared.

Click to enlarge.

 
 
 
 

 

Summary: Incident location of 2016 reports

Incident type On campus Off campus Unknown
Sexual assault 47 52 24
Sexual harassment 101 15 8
Dating/domestic violence 45 40 22
Stalking 73 12 9
Sexual exploitation and intimidation 13 5 4

 

 

Discussion

Over the past four years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of reports of most incident types. While it’s possible that this reflects an increase in the number of incidents occurring, it may also be reflective of updated policies, expanded training to help Academic and Administrative Officers (A/AOs) understand their reporting responsibilities, increased communication with other offices, or some combination of these factors.

Reports involving possible stalking increased notably from 43 in 2015 to 91 in 2016. This may be related to a revision of UI policies to include stalking as a prohibited behavior that was rolled out in conjunction with increased training to recognize and report stalking. An update to the Clery definition of stalking went into effect in this time period also, leading to many cases being classified as stalking that had previously been characterized as harassment.

Data on the affiliation of reporting parties reflect national statistics of increased victimization rates amongst college-aged populations. Information about the affiliation of reporting parties and respondents, taken together with Speak Out Iowa survey data, allows us to reflect on training and prevention priorities. The data here emphasizes the importance of strategies in the Anti-Violence Plan to implement expanded primary prevention programs for all campus populations.

Incident location data helps OSMRC work with campus partners, especially the Department of Public Safety, to address safety concerns related to specific locations. The data reflect the importance of ongoing engagement with partners in the community through efforts like Raise the Bar.