Chico Speaks FAQs

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• What's the overall purpose of the Chico Speaks survey?

  This survey is an important tool to assess current programs, to understand what is happening on our campus, and to shape future programming, so we are asking all Chico State students to respond to the Chico Speaks survey. Our goal is to make Chico State as safe as possible by developing programs and services that prevent sexual assault and misconduct as well as respond to these events when do they do occur. The results will be used to guide programming to encourage a healthy, safe, and nondiscriminatory environment on campus.

• How did the Chico Speaks survey come about?

  Climate surveys have been identified as a best practice to assist colleges and universities to better understand and respond to campus sexual misconduct issues. Chico State contracted with the Education Advisory Board (EAB)(opens in new window) to conduct the survey. EAB developed their survey through an extensive literature review of relevant research and existing campus climate surveys. EAB researchers also conducted interviews with administrators involved in initiatives at a number of private and public institutions in the U.S. and Canada to gather best practices for assessing diversity, inclusivity, and campus sexual violence. Student affairs administrators, faculty, topic experts, and recent college graduates have reviewed the survey, and the survey was revised based on their feedback. The EAB Campus Climate Survey team regularly reviews the survey, changing external guidance, and feedback from administrators and students to ensure that the survey is up to date.

• Why should I take the Chico Speaks survey?

  This is your chance to let your opinions and experiences directly impact how Chico State responds to campus sexual misconduct and works to improve culture on our campus. Your participation in the survey is confidential and your answers cannot be linked to your survey responses.

  Also, you may win a great PRIZE! (please see our Prizes webpage)

• What will Chico State do with the survey results?

  The results will be used to better understand Chico State’s campus climate, the extent of sexual assault and misconduct among students, and the level of understanding of programs and services currently being offered. This information will be used to make recommendations for changes to programming related to preventing and handling sexual assault and misconduct at Chico State. The results will be shared with the campus community.

• How will the survey help Chico State's sexual assault prevention efforts?

  Sexual misconduct is chronically underreported. By providing our students with an opportunity to discuss their experiences and attitudes in a confidential setting, we hope to better assess the problem of sexual misconduct at Chico State. This assessment will help us to develop targeted programming relating to sexual violence awareness and prevention.

• Will this be a one-time survey?

  No. We hope to conduct campus climate surveys on a recurring basis. Climate surveys are best administered over time to see if the programs put in place are making a difference. Most institutions do climate surveys every other year or every third year.

• How is my data protected?

  The EAB Campus Climate Survey is hosted on the online survey platform SurveyGizmo. Survey responses are received through the SurveyGizmo platform and later stored on EAB’s secure servers. The survey data in SurveyGizmo is password protected and accessible only to members of the EAB Campus Climate Survey research team. When survey data is downloaded from the SurveyGizmo platform to the EAB server, it is stored in password protected and encrypted file folders. Only members of the EAB Campus Climate Survey research team have access to the data file folders. After the survey has closed, EAB will securely send the raw data files and results files to institutions using a secure file transfer.

  If you enter the prize drawing after completing the survey, please note that your information used to enter the drawing cannot be linked to any of your Chico Speaks survey answers.

• How do I complete the Chico Speaks survey?

  Check your email or click link Chico Speaks Survey. Survey ended.

• Is the Chico Speaks survey anonymous?

  Yes. Data confidentiality is an extremely important issue. Your responses remain anonymous and your email addresses will not be linked, in any way, to your responses. Students who choose to be entered in the prize drawing will be taken to a page that lives outside of the survey instrument and cannot be connected with survey responses.

• Who is the target audience?

  The survey is for the entire Chico State STUDENT community (full-time and part-time undergraduate, graduate, and credential students), and is not intended for faculty, administrators, staff or other university employees. The survey is designed for four-year institutions.

• How long will the Chico Speaks survey take?

  This survey should take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

• Do I need to answer all the questions?

  Students can choose to skip questions and are not required to answer questions they do not wish to answer. The survey employs skip logic that creates a custom path through the survey that varies based on a student’s answers.

• If I start the Chico Speaks survey and stop before I finish, will I need to start over?

  No. If you exit the survey prior to completion and would like to save your responses, you will be prompted to enter your Chico State email address. SurveyGizmo will send you an email with a hyperlink to reenter the Chico Speaks survey (be sure to check your junk mail if you don’t immediately see the email). This information is maintained only by SurveyGizmo and is not shared back with the campus.

• Can I complete the Chico Speaks survey on my cell phone?

  Yes, the survey is mobile-optimized!

• Are there any prizes for completing the Chico Speaks survey?

  Yes! Coffee, iPads, Bike, concert tickets, laptops and more! Please see our Prizes webpage for more information.

• Will being a part of the drawing for prizes let people know how I answered my Chico Speaks survey questions?

  No. Taking part in the drawing after you complete the Chico Speaks survey will not result in anyone knowing your answers.

• How long is the survey open?

  The survey will remain open for three (3) weeks: April 9 to 29, 2018, at which time it automatically closes.

• What should I do if I become upset answering these questions?

  For confidential support on-campus, please contact the Counseling and Wellness Center at 530-898-6345 or Safe Place at 530-898-3030. After hours’ support can be obtained from these resources by following the prompts in the voice message.

  You can also contact the Office of the Title IX Coordinator at 530-898-4949 to understand the various resources and options available to our campus community.

• Why does the Chico Speaks survey have questions with victim-blaming language? Don’t these kind of statements perpetuate rape myths?

  "If a woman hooks up with a lot of men, eventually she is going to get into trouble” or

  “A person who is sexually assaulted or raped while she or he is drunk is at least somewhat responsible for putting themselves in that position” or

  " A lot of times, women who say they were raped agreed to have sex and then regretted it afterward.”

  It is encouraging that students find this language uncomfortable. That is what we hope is the norm. Controversial statements are important to the Chico Speaks survey because they help us assess both what is happening to our students with respect to sexual violence (prevalence) and the extent to which our students endorse problematic attitudes (beliefs). The wording was drawn from established survey/interview instruments with a long research history designed to measure the extent to which students believe the statements. Learning about the beliefs that are prevalent within our campus community will help us develop future programming to encourage a healthy, safe, and nondiscriminatory environment on campus.

• Why doesn't the Chico Speaks survey include gender-neutral language? Are students asked about their gender identity?

  Chico State contracted with the Education Advisory Board (EAB)(opens in new window) to conduct the survey, and EAB provided the language. While the survey includes gender-binary language (e.g., did “he or she...”), it does ask demographic information that includes questions around gender identity. Because of that, we will still be able to gather useful information about how sexual misconduct affects students who do not identify as cisgender.

  We have requested that EAB consider adopting gender-neutral language in future surveys.

• Why does the survey include a question about citizenship or residence status?

  Keeping in mind that the survey is completely confidential, and that answers cannot be connected to identity, this question is included because we need to know how citizenship status affects Chico State students’ experiences of sexual violence including risk of victimization and access to campus support services. This information will help us better serve our campus community. Additionally, students can elect to simply not indicate anything on that particular question (or any of the demographic questions) and will still be able to proceed with the survey.

• Is the Chico Speaks survey only for women or heteronormative people?

  No, this survey is for everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation or experiences. The survey will be used to shape practices that affect everyone on campus, so it is very important that you provide your experiences and viewpoint.

• Why doesn't the Chico Speaks survey provide me with an opportunity to comment?

  The purpose of the survey is to gauge the prevalence of certain sexual experiences and behaviors on campus, to test students’ attitudes and awareness about the issue of sexual misconduct, and to provide Chico State with anonymous and comprehensive data needed to get a better estimate of the nature and scope of the problem on our campus. An online survey isn't the best place to engage students in a more detailed discussion about sexual assault, and we’re looking for other opportunities to have more in depth discussions.

• Some of the questions are very specific/graphic. Is that necessary?

  Our goal is to foster a safe and supportive environment where students can flourish, both academically and personally. To understand Chico State’s campus climate, we need to ask direct questions about topics that some may find sensitive. It is only by directly collecting this information from you that we will be able to support preventing negative experiences and effectively respond when they do happen.

  The survey includes a consent statement and warning about the explicit nature of some of the questions, and the last page of the survey has information about resources that students can access if they are looking for support after completing the survey. Students are free to skip questions they do not wish to answer.

• I've never experienced sexual assault or sexual misconduct, so why should I take part?

  To get a complete picture of Chico State, we need to hear from as many students as possible. Experiences are not the only subject matter of the survey and every student who participates will help us better understand the scope of these issues. Please encourage your friends to participate!

• I completed a Student Health survey that had some questions that seem similar. Should I complete the Chico Speaks survey too?

  Yes! Please complete the Chico Speaks survey. The Student Health survey has a different focus, as the purpose was to determine the most significant health priorities and trends of Chico State student body.

• I still have questions

  Please contact the Title IX Coordinator’s Office at titleixcoordinator@csuchico.edu or (530) 898-4949. Please tell us your name, Chico State ID and contact information, and mention Chico Speaks. We will respond as soon as possible.