The ARC3 (Administrator-Researcher Campus Climate Collaborative) Survey is a campus climate survey developed to assess perpetration and victimization of sexual misconduct on college campuses in the United States. In addition to measuring rates of
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
on campus, the survey also gathers data on those who are engaging in sexual assault.
It was developed by a group of sexual assault researchers and student affairs professionals in response to the
White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault
The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault was formed on January 22, 2014, after President Barack Obama directed the Office of the Vice President of the United States and the White House Council on Women and Girls to "s ...
.
The survey is free for college campuses to use.
The study has been used to assess both
graduate and
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...
students.
Background
College
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
is common. Estimates of the number of women assaulted on college campuses have shown that some 15 to 20 percent of college women report rape or attempted rape during their college career, and that over 50 percent report experiencing some form of unwanted sexual contact. Not only are survivors of sexual violence at an increased risk for
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
,
depression,
posttraumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
,
substance abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
, and various other physical health problems, but they are also at risk of poorer
academic performance
Academic achievement or academic performance is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has attained their short or long-term educational goals. Completion of educational benchmarks such as secondary school diplomas and bachelor's deg ...
. Additionally, according to the ''
AAUP Report on Sexual Assault,'' other academic consequences of sexual assault include: significant declines in academic achievement; impaired ability to carry a normal course load; increased frequency of missing classes; reduced capacity to contribute to the campus community; and an increased likelihood of dropping courses, leaving school, or transferring.
Students in the United States may apply
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
of the
Education Amendments of 1972
The Education Amendments of 1972, also sometimes known as the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 (Public Law No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235), were U.S. legislation enacted on June 23, 1972. It is best known for its Title IX, which prohibited disc ...
in order to successfully sue universities for "indifference to known situations of harassment." In addition, Title IX is used to support initiatives to prevent sexual assault on college campuses in the United States. Because of various federal investigations, many universities turned to surveys and apps that were often expensive, spending "six figures on a product that promised to address the problem."
White House Initiative "It's on Us"
With the increase of attention on college
sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, se ...
, the White House presented on September 19, 2014 the launch of the "It's on Us" Campaign. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and Vice President
Joe Biden introduced the campaign by describing the importance of ending sexual assault on college campuses. The "It's on Us" Campaign is leading a pledge to "not be a bystander to the problem
f sexual assault but to be a part of the solution." The campaign emphasizes the idea that everyone is responsible for taking a stand in ending sexual violence.
The ARC3 Survey was developed in response to the White House initiative in hopes to better evaluate data about sexual misconduct on college campuses.
The ARC3 survey was also created in order to ensure that there was no
profit motive
In economics, the profit motive is the motivation of firms that operate so as to maximize their profits. Mainstream microeconomic theory posits that the ultimate goal of a business is "to make money" - not in the sense of increasing the firm's s ...
behind the campus surveys, many of which have been very expensive for colleges to purchase and implement.
Jennifer Freyd
Jennifer Joy Freyd (; born October 16, 1957, in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American researcher, author, educator, and speaker. Freyd is an extensively published scholar who is best known for her theories of betrayal trauma, DARVO, institu ...
, a researcher at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, has been instrumental in spear-heading the ARC3 survey initiative.
Collaborators
This survey is the result of ongoing efforts by student and legal affairs professionals, campus advocates, students, campus law enforcement, and sexual assault and harassment researchers, groups of whom met in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
in October 2014 for the
Georgia State University
Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...
Forum on Campus Sexual Assault and in February 2015 in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
for the Madison Summit on Campus Climate and Sexual Misconduct. The collaborators who collectively designed the survey and their titles and institutions are listed below:
Guiding principles
According to the ARC3 Survey website hosted by
Georgia State University
Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...
the ARC3 Survey was created with the following principles in mind:
*Inclusiveness, mutual respect, and collaboration
** Where the voices of researchers, college and university administrators, and students will all be heard.
*Engaging in an iterative and transparent drafting process
**The authors invite and encourage peer review and revision of the survey.
**Administrators should give support, feedback and consultation to researchers so that the survey will be as useful and relevant as possible.
**Scientists in turn should consider the feedback in developing a survey that meets institutional needs.
*Ensuring independence and integrity in research
**Guided by the ethics of science and recognizing and taking steps to remove the influence of bias.
**A commitment to use of the best scientific evidence as the foundation of the survey.
**There is a scientific knowledge base and a transparent scientific process must guide this work if the research is to have integrity and accuracy.
**Peer reviewed studies are the basis for determining survey content.
*Equal focus on surveying victimization and perpetration
**Meaningful prevention rests on identifying the reasons sexual misconduct is perpetrated and the environments that foster it. Data that are focused on both victimization and perpetration creates a scientific foundation for administrative work.
*The adoption of a civil rights approach grounded in Title IX
**Our work focuses on the range of acts that constitute student on student incidents an institution must respond to and process under guidelines of Title IX, the Violence Against Women Act, the Clery Law and other applicable local, state, and federal law and guidelines.
*Framing our efforts with the principles of The Belmont Report
**Respect for persons: Ensure that students are informed and participate voluntarily.
**Beneficence: Participation in a campus climate survey is an educational opportunity and an intervention.
*Justice
**As stated in the Belmont report, address “Who ought to receive the benefits of research and bear its burdens?”
*A sensitivity to the unique issues faced by various diverse populations and higher education institutional types
**Addressing the intersectionality of identities and the multiple contextual factors affecting risk.
Survey components
The ARC3 Survey takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and has a module-based structure which makes it flexible to campus needs and legislative mandates moving forward, while maintaining validity of measurement.
The following is a list of module topics obtained from the ARC3 Website:
References
{{Reflist
Sexual violence
Surveys (human research)