Climate Survey

 

Consistent with New York State Education Law 129-B and policies of The State University of New York (SUNY), the Fashion Institute of Technology participated in the 2025 biennial SUNY Sexual Violence Prevalence (SVP) Campus Climate Survey. The SVP survey, developed by SUNY, is administered every other year by all SUNY campuses and has been conducted four times at FIT since its inception in 2019. 

This survey was administered to students and employees and gathers information about their experience with sexual and interpersonal violence and their knowledge of policies and resources. Specifically: 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 (for example, the last two years);  bystander attitudes and behavior; whether victims/survivors reported to the College/University and/or police, and reasons why they did or did not report; the general awareness of the difference, if any, between the institution’s policies and the penal law; and the general awareness of the definition of affirmative consent.

The survey was sent to 7,974 students and 1,477 employees on March 5, 2025 and closed March 26, 2026.  227 students and 287 employees responded, for response rates of 3% and 19%. Across 60 SUNY institutions, the total SUNY response rate for students was 6%, ranging from 2% to 11%. For employees, the SUNY total response rate was 26%, with individual campus rates ranging from 8% to 48%.

Results indicate that students are somewhat aware of the policies and laws, and of the available resources at FIT, and in some areas to a lesser degree than students enrolled at other SUNY institutions:

  • Awareness of policies and resources about sexual assault and interpersonal violence among students increased compared to 2023 results, with more students knowing how to file a formal complaint, report an incident, and how to locate information
  • Awareness of the roles of FIT’s Title IX Coordinator and how to make contact with the office also rose, as did awareness of on-campus resources of the offices of student conduct, health services and human resources
  • The most known resources continued to be public safety, counseling center, and health services
  • A smaller share of students reported having received unwanted sexual comments, unwanted sexually suggestive digital or written communication, and assault compared to 2023 survey results

Results indicate that employees are generally aware of the policies and laws, and of the available resources at FIT, often meeting or exceeding knowledge rates of employees of other SUNY institutions:

  • The share of employees who know specifically how to contact the Title IX Coordinator increased from 2023 to reach 88%
  • The most known resources among employees continued to be public safety, counseling center, and health services, and human resources
  • Of employees who reported an incident that a student reported to them, 100% reported the incident to the Title IX office
  • Again this round, most employees know how to report incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking to the college and are aware of campus policies and definitions
  • More employees agreed compared to last year that FIT would conduct a fair investigation, support the student, and take the report seriously
  • Of employees who reported unwanted sexual comments, most experienced the comments on-campus and did not report the incident

These results are being reviewed thoroughly on campus and will be used to inform our sexual violence prevention and response efforts to provide a safe educational environment for all. The next survey will be administered in Spring of 2027. More information about the SUNY survey instrument is available on SUNY’s website. For more information about FIT’s results and their use, and our resources for students and employees, please contact Deliwe Kekana, at [email protected].