Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Karel Kurst-Swanger

Abstract

Sexual assaults occurring on university campuses are a national health crisis with statistics revealing 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men endure an unwanted sexual experience during their college career. The United States government has modified Title IX to update processes and resources educational institutions must provide to their students affected by sexual assaults. Educational institutions have increased educational resources to inform students about sexual assault prevention, how to recognize a sexual assault, where to go on campus for assistance, and where to report a complaint. However, studies have shown that over 90% of sexual assaults never get reported, and students needing assistance refer to the campus sexual assault investigation process as the second assault. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the policy implementation gaps using narrative policy framework to analyze best practices and barriers to implementation of Title IX policy from the perspective of university campus support professionals who are tasked with its implementation. Data were collected through in-depth structured interviews with 19 campus support professionals in a Midwest public university system. Findings indicated that the best practice is to adhere to the system/campus policy processes. Barriers for policy implementation included lack of education, not following the approved system and campus processes, lack of funding and lack of resources. Findings of this may be used by universities to better support their campus support professionals to improve the services provided to students affected by sexual assaults leading to positive social change.

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