SUNY Sexual Violence Prevalence Campus Climate Survey

SUNY Geneseo maintains a deep commitment to creating a safe environment for all faculty, staff, administrators, and students.

Consistent with New York State Education Law 129-B and policies of The State University of New York, Geneseo participated in the 2025 University-wide Biennial SUNY Uniform Sexual Violence Prevention (SVP) Campus Climate Survey. The SVP Campus Climate Survey (administered 3/24/25-4/13/25) gathered information about student and employee experience with sexual and interpersonal violence, stalking, and knowledge of policies and resources on campus. Although the survey itself is mandatory for campuses to administer every other year, students and employees voluntarily participate in completing the survey and can choose whether or not to respond to questions.

The SUNY SVP Campus Climate Survey underwent its fifth administration in 2025. Since 2021, student participation and response rates in the surveys have declined each year within the SUNY system, which can be seen in the table below.

	2021	2023	2025
SUNY Student Response Rate	16.7%	6.4%	5.3%
Geneseo Student Response Rate	16%	7.2%	9.6%

Despite the decrease in the number of responses across SUNY System, SUNY Geneseo participation in the survey continues to exceed overall SUNY responses. In 2025, SUNY Geneseo had the 3rd highest response rate amongst the Comprehensive Sector and the 8th highest response rate in SUNY. To put it into perspective, the highest response rate by a SUNY campus was only 12.2%, a 2.6 point differential from SUNY Geneseo’s response rate.

Response rates for employees have also undergone decreases; SUNY Geneseo’s response rates for employees have seen a 4-5 point decrease since 2021, going from 34% down to 29% in 2025. However, overall SUNY response rates for employees in 2025 was only 18.7% and SUNY Geneseo ranked 10th highest in the state for employee responses.

In March, our campus began an online administration of the Sexual Violence Prevalence (SVP) Campus Climate Survey. This survey was administered to students and employees and is required to address, at minimum, student and employee knowledge about:

• The Title IX Coordinator’s role;
• Campus policies and procedures addressing sexual assault;
• How and where to report sexual violence as a victim/survivor or witness;
• The availability of resources on and off campus, such as counseling, health, academic assistance;
• The prevalence of victimization and perpetration of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking on and off campus during a set time period;
• Bystander attitudes and behavior;
• Whether victims/survivors reported to the University and/or police, and reasons why the did or did not report;
• The general awareness of the difference, if any, between the institution’s polices and the penal law; and
• The general awareness of the definition of affirmative consent.

The SVP survey is administered every other year by all SUNY campuses, who work closely with SUNY System Administration to coordinate the survey administration itself. An effort is made to keep the questions from one administration to the next as consistent as possible to allow for reliable and meaningful longitudinal data. Systemwide IRB review takes place for each survey administration.

Our campus administered both the student and employee survey between March 24, 2025-April 13, 2025. All eligible survey participants received an electronic invitation by email from Survey@suny.edu and remained open to be completed until April 13, 2025. Excluded survey populations were individuals under 18 years of age, all incarcerated individuals regardless of age, and all students concurrently enrolled in high school regardless of age.

SUNY Geneseo did not offer incentives to invited participants. Instead, the campus used the Title IX Instagram page as well as tabling events in the Student Union to campaign for active participation, hung posters up around campus and utilized various campus listservs and electronic newsletters to garner participation by both the student body and employees.

Individual responses were treated as confidential and participation was voluntary.

If you have any questions about the survey or the results included in this report, please contact the Title IX Coordinator.

Although there were 219 less survey invitations sent to students between the 2023 and 2025 administrations, there was a 25% increase in response rates (281 vs. 352) between the two survey years. Employee response rates have remained fairly consistent despite there being a slight decrease in invitations and individual responses.

Student Demographics

Most of the student respondents (72%) were living in on campus housing. Other housing options within the past year included off campus housing with friends/roommates, living with family, and temporarily staying with friends/relatives while looking for alternate housing. Respondents could “check all that applied” within the preceding year; 37.7% reported living with family and 28.9% of reporting students also indicated they were living in off campus housing with roommates and/or friends in the past year.

SUNY Geneseo saw a decline in the number of student respondents reporting to be a member of Greek Life. There was an 8 point decrease between the 2023 and 2025 surveys, going from 29.7% reported involvement in 2023 to 21.7% reported involvement in 2025. Survey responses also showed a decline in respondents reporting to be on an athletic team, going from 17.8% of respondents in 2023 to only 6.3% in the 2025 survey. However, there was a slight increase in the number of respondents reporting to be part of an athletic club, going from 15.7% in 2023 to 16.3% in the 2025 survey.

Roughly twenty-one percent (21.4%) of respondents indicated having a disability/chronic health condition. Raw data indicate that of those that disclosed a disability/chronic health condition (75/352 respondents), 17.1% reported having a chronic mental health condition (depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc), 10.9% reported a diagnosis of ADHD, 5.7% reported having a chronic health condition (diabetes, cystic fibrosis, chronic pain, etc), 3.4% reported having a learning disability, 4% reported having an Autism Spectrum Disorder and 4% reported having a mobility related or sensory disability.

Sexual orientation of respondents was as follows:

• 60.9% heterosexual
• 19.1% bisexual
• 5.7% queer
• 4% lesbian
• 3.1% asexual
• 5.1% questioning/unsure
• 3.7% pansexual
• 1.7% gay
• 4.3% prefer not to respond

Employee Demographics

Approximately 29% of faculty and staff (249/858) responded to the invitation to complete the survey. Of the respondents, 39.5% identified as faculty, while 60.5% identified as staff or administrator. The majority of respondents (63.7%) identified as full-time, permanent/continuing employees; while 25.8% identified as full-time, not permanent/continuing and 9.7% were part-time employees.

Raw data for length of employment at the campus showed that approximately just over a third of respondents (36.7%) have been employed for over eleven years, 31% for 1-5 years, 21.4% for 6-10 years and 10.5% for less than a year.

Employee respondents primarily identified as women (53.6%), compared to 39.9% identifying as men, and 3.4% identifying as either non-binary or transgender. When asked to describe their sexual orientation, employee respondents identify as follows:

Sexual Orientation	Percentage
Heterosexual	79.4%
Bisexual	4.4%
Gay	2.8%
Asexual	2%
Queer	1.6%
Prefer Not to Respond	6.5%

This section relates to campus wide knowledge and awareness surrounding SUNY Geneseo’s Title IX Office, how to make reports, policies and procedures, as well as campus and community resources. Overall, both students and employees are aware of the polices and procedures that address dating/domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment and stalking.

• Overall, the majority of both employee and student respondents displayed an awareness of how to contact the Title IX Coordinator and the campus policies related to sexual assault on campus
• Only 1.6% (4 of 236) employee respondents did not know the definition of affirmative consent compared to 8.6% (30 of 311) student respondents, while a slightly higher percentage of students were unsure of the definition (10.9%) compared to employees (8.1%).
• The campus as a whole acknowledged understanding that someone who is incapacitated can not provide consent (80.9% of student respondents and 89.1% of employee respondents, respectively).
• SUNY Geneseo had an overwhelming 94.8% response rate by employees and 87.7% response rate by students to the question about whether they have received information and/or training on topics covered by Title IX and NYS 129-B. The vast majority of both employee and student respondents indicated receiving written and/or verbal information about the following in the table below, versus 13.4% of student respondents and 4% employee respondents who stated they did not receive any information:

• When employees were asked about knowing the difference between confidentiality and privacy under the laws, 79.8% acknowledged knowing the difference. Only 38 of the 236 employee respondents indicated not knowing the difference or being unsure. This survey question showed a positive trend in employee knowledge base, with an 8.9 point difference from the 2023 survey.
• When employees and students were asked about awareness of the difference between the campus disciplinary process and the criminal justice system process, 81% (201 of 233) employee respondents and 50.9% (178 of 310) student respondents affirmatively indicated knowing the difference between the two processes.
• Employee and student respondents indicated knowledge surrounding SUNY’s alcohol and/or drug use amnesty policy when reporting incidents falling under Title IX and NYS 129-B. Sixty-two percent (62/5%) of employee respondents and 52.9% of student respondents indicated knowledge of this policy.

When it came to knowledge surrounding how to report incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating/domestic violence or stalking, 19.1% (67 of 309) of student respondents reported they were unaware, and 6.9% (17 of 237) of employee respondents reported they did not know how to report. This survey question had a 95.6% employee response rate and an 88.3% student response rate.

• The 2023 changes to the annual mandatory Title IX employee training curriculum have begun to show positive trends in employee knowledge base in the SVP survey results.

Most respondents indicated an awareness of the role of the Title IX Coordinator as indicated by the following:

Overall, with 89.9% of employees responding and 75.7% of students responding, the campus did exhibit an awareness of campus and community resources, (excluding the Title IX Office). Respondents were invited to “check all resources of which you are aware”. *The table reflects awareness of resources in descending order based on response:

• Less than 1% of employees and only 2% of student respondents indicated an unawareness of any campus or local resources

This section asked the campus body of SUNY Geneseo about experiences and incidents of sexual and interpersonal violence within the last year. It includes whether students disclosed their experience and to whom, as well as if not reported their reasons for not reporting. It also includes whether employees reported any known disclosures, to whom and their reasons for not reporting.

• Employee respondents indicated that within the year preceding the survey, 15.4% of them received a disclosure from a student about an unwanted sexual experience

  • Of those receiving disclosures, 17% of the respondents were faculty and 14.2% were staff
  • 53.1% of employees reported the disclosure to the campus versus 31.3% who did not
  • Of those respondents who did not report the disclosure, 80% chose “none of the above”
    • According to the raw data, other reasons given for not reporting the disclosure were:
      • “I didn’t trust the campus to take appropriate action”
      • “I am a designated confidential resource”
      • “The student asked me not to”

Student respondents reported experiencing the following things without their consent within the year preceding the survey; these numbers are higher than when reported in the 2021 SVP survey:

• Employee respondents noted that this experience occurred in an office on campus (42.9%) or in another setting on campus (64.3%) by another staff member (42.9%).
• When asked if they took any action after the experience, 57.1% of respondents reported they took no action.

Student respondents were asked more specific questions around their experiences with sexual assaults, either attempted or completed:

• The rate of occurrence reported between 2021 and 2023 of these experiences significantly increased in all areas except for attempts at removing clothing.
• There were some interesting findings surrounding rates of occurrences, gender identity and sexual orientation of these experiences.
  • Completed, nonconsensual fondling, kissing or rubbing of private areas: 16.2% (men) vs. 25% (women)
  • Students identifying as women reported experiencing all other types of incidents at rates of approximately 4-5% (attempts) and 5-10% (completions).
  • Students identifying as bisexual reported experiencing completed, nonconsensual fondling, kissing or rubbing of private areas at a rate of 35.5% (completed) versus 20.8% for heterosexual students.
• For the most recent incident (attempted or completed) of sexual comments, sexually suggestive communications, fondling/kissing/rubbing of private body parts, removal of clothes, having oral sex or performing oral sex or sexual penetration (all without consent), those who responded reported that 59.7% of the perpetrators were somehow affiliated with the campus community

Students who responded to the survey reported their relationship to the perpetrator as follows:

• Strangers, 29.1%
• Acquaintance/no prior relationship, 14.5%
• Non-Romantic friends, 16.2%
• Other college students, 15.4%
• Ex-romantic partners, 7.7%
• Casual or first date, 5.1%
  • 1.4% of student respondents indicated that there was more than one person involved in the incident

Students’ responses to questions about who they disclosed to as well as reasons for not reporting are broken down as follows:

• The top people that students disclosed their most recent assault to were friend (89.5%), roommate/housemate (63.2%), romantic partner (28.9%) and parent/guardian (18.4%)
• 15.8% of respondents reported going to the Title IX office, and the raw data suggests that a few other students disclosed to campus counseling/health services, UPD, and faculty/staff at the campus

Unfortunately, 63.6% of reporters (70 responses) did not tell anyone about what happened to them, and of those who did disclose, only 1.7% (5 responses) of reporters filed a formal complaint with SUNY Geneseo

Here is a breakdown of student’s reasons for not disclosing their assault. Reporters could choose all that applied:

• “I did not think it was important enough” (46 responses, 70.8%)
• “I just did not want to deal with it” (46 responses, 70.8%)
• “I did not recognize it as sexual assault at the time” (36 responses, 55.4%)
• “I was ashamed or embarrassed” (29 responses, 44.6%)
• “I was worried it was partly my fault” (21 responses, 32.3%)
• “I was concerned that others would find out” (20 responses, 30.8%)
• “I did not think I would be believed” (19 responses, 29.2%)
• “I thought I would be blamed for what happened” (18 responses, 27.7%)
• “I was worried that if I told someone at my campus, the administration would take action on their own without my permission” (16 responses, 24.6%)
• “I did not trust the campus to take appropriate action” (15 responses, 23.1%)
• “I feared the person who did it would try to hurt me again in some way” (15 responses, 23.1%)
• “I did not trust police to take appropriate action” (11 responses, 16.9%)
• “I was afraid of losing my friends or my friend group changing” (11 responses, 16.9%)

Students were asked about experiences with intimate partner violence (intimate partner was defined as “a boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, or anyone [the respondent] was in an intimate relationship with or hooked up with, including exes and current partners) within the past year

• Of those who responded to these questions, 41.7% did disclose this experience to someone which is an 11.7% decrease compared to the results of the 2021 survey.
• 3.4% (10 responses) reported that they disclosed to the following people (respondents could check all that applied):
  • Roommate/housemate (9 responses)
  • Friend (8 responses)
  • UPD, parent/guardian, romantic partner, Title IX Office (2 responses)

58.3% of student respondents disclosed they told NO ONE about the abuse they experienced and according to the raw data, only 2 respondents filed a formal complaint with the college.

Below is a breakdown of reasons students gave for not reporting their incidents of dating/domestic violence based on the raw data collected from the 4.8% of respondents who chose to answer this question:

• “I did not think it was important enough” (10 responses, 3.4%)
• “I did not recognize it as domestic/dating violence at the time” (7 responses, 2.4%)
• “I was worried that it was partly my fault” (6 responses, 2.1%)
• “I did not think I would be believed” (4 responses, 1.4%)
• “I thought I would be blamed for what happened” (4 responses, 1.4%)
• “I just did not want to deal with it” (4 responses, 1.4%)

Eighteen student respondents (9.1%) reported that a stranger/friend/current or ex-partner repeatedly followed, watched, texted, called, emailed, or communicated with them in ways that seemed obsessive and made them afraid and concerned for their safety.

Regarding the relationship with the perpetrator, only 6.2% of students chose to respond and reported the following responses:

• 2.7% reported that the person was an ex-romantic partner or former spouse
• 1% reported the person was a current romantic partner, including spouse

76.5% of respondents told someone about the incident. In addition, there were no respondents who filed a formal complaint with SUNY Geneseo.

Of the students who reported they told someone about the most recent incident, they gave out the top people they disclosed to were:

• Friend (12 responses, 4.1%)
• Roommate/housemate (9 responses, 3.1%)
• Title IX Office, (5 responses, 1.7%)
• Parent/guardian (3 responses, 1%)
• Romantic partner (3 responses, 1%)

There were too few responses to present results about the reasons students decided not to disclose or report their experiences.

According to the raw data, 42.6% of all student respondents indicated that their experiences of sexual violence, dating/domestic violence and stalking made them change their academic or educational plans in the following ways:

• 8.9% of respondents reported changing their academic housing or schedule
• 7.3% reported leaving school
• 4.9% reported transferring to another school

This section asked students and employees about their perceptions of how their fellow students would respond and how SUNY Geneseo would respond in various situations

• 83% of employee respondents answered “Likely” or “Very Likely” that another employee would be willing to call for help if they hear a neighbor yelling for help
• 55.8% of employee respondents answered “Likely” or “Very Likely” that another employee would talk to a student who they suspect is in an abusive relationship
• 79.2% reported that they believe another employee would get help and resources for a friend who tells them they have been assaulted
• 64.5% reported that they believe another employee would disclose information to campus authorities about a known assault even if pressured to stay silent.

• These results showed a positive increase in the faith in the college’s ability to handle reports of assaults compared to the results of the 2021 survey.
• These results also match the percentages of the SUNY totals

• Compared to the 2021 survey results, student respondents indicated a decreased belief that another student would be an active bystander in these situations in the 2023 survey.

Geneseo, working with SUNY and community colleagues (including students, faculty, and staff), will use these data to continually improve the campus’s response to violence, develop prevention programs, as well as continue to study and report findings on the issue.

The next SVP Campus Climate Survey will be administered in 2027. Stay tuned for information related to accessing and completing the survey! We thank you in advance for your participation!

More information about the survey is available at SUNY Climate Survey.

If you have questions about the survey, please contact the Title IX Coordinator or the Director of Institutional Research.