Development of the Services, Policies and Programs Audit Tool to Address Campus Sexual Violence

Evidence suggests that resources to address campus sexual violence (CSV) are inconsistently offered across institutions of higher education (IHE), and thus there is a need for campuses to continually assess their provision of resources and services to improve the climate and well-being of students. Conducting a periodical scan of resources provided is one way for IHE to assess their adherence to best practices. The current study describes the development of the Services, Policies and Programs Audit (SPPA) tool, created to help IHE evaluate their adherence with best practices related to the provision of services, policies, and programs on campus. The tool was piloted with 18 individuals from 12 different IHE across the country. Exploratory evaluation of the SPPA indicates that it may be a useful tool for self-examination of campus policies, services, and prevention and education efforts. Participants from the 12 IHE who participated in the pilot generally reported that the SPPA was helpful to their efforts. Interrater reliability results indicated that the position of the person who completes the tool impacts the scoring, with those who are more familiar with CSV services scoring higher. This aligns with other research indicating that it is important not only to have resources on campus to address CSV but also to ensure that the campus community is aware of them. The SPPA can potentially serve as one part of a larger toolkit used by IHE to assess their efforts to address CSV.