Chico Speaks

In Spring 2018, Chico State conducted a campus-wide student Climate Survey called Chico Speaks. A Full Report (PDF) has now been completed and is available for the campus community to review.

This confidential online survey was an anonymous online instrument to assess students’ experiences, behaviors, attitudes, and perceptions about sexual violence on campus. In spring 2018, Chico State was one of 42 college institutions in the United States and Canada that participated in the survey. Chico State was a mid-sized institution defined as having between 10,000 and 19,999 students. There were 11 of those institutions out of the 42 participating institutions. Participating institutions (sometimes called “the cohort”) were instructed to conduct the survey over a three-week period sometime between January 1 and May 1, 2018. Chico State conducted its survey from April 9–29, 2018 and named the survey Chico Speaks. The survey opened with warnings concerning the sensitive nature of the subject matter, and survey respondents were offered resource information at the conclusion of the survey

To solicit participation, all Chico State students were contacted through their University-provided email address and given a link to the anonymous Chico Speaks survey. FAQs about the Chico Speaks survey were accessible through Chico State’s Title IX website and posters and stickers were dispersed throughout the campus. The survey was also advertised through various social media platforms. Prize opportunities were offered as a way to incentive students to participate. After completing the survey, students had the option of clicking on a hyperlink to exit the survey and be redirected to the Chico Speaks prize entry webpage. The prize webpage was housed outside the survey site to protect the anonymity of survey takers. Student contact information could not be connected to any of the Chico Speaks survey answers, and students were informed of that. On that prize webpage, identifying information was entered by the student and submitted, similar to a raffle.

Prizes included a $5 coffee credit, iPad Minis, bicycle store gift certificate, textbook credits, and other prizes. The assumption was that by offering prizes throughout the three-week survey period, students would be more likely to complete the survey. A prize was also given to the student club that had the highest ratio of participation.

Both social media and the more traditional media campaigns were used by the Title IX office, and these efforts were supplemented by messages encouraging participation from University faculty and administration and through student groups, including the Associated Students.

A total of 4,138 students responded by at least starting the survey, representing a 23% response rate out of an estimated population of 18,000 (the average response rate for the cohort was 17%). Of those who started it, 69% (2,863) fully completed it. This is indicated in the survey report by a varying number of responses for each question. Data in the report is compared against the number of people who actually answered each specific question (as opposed to assuming that 4,138 answered each question). Students who answered a survey question are referred to as “respondents” in the report.