As part of the university’s continued commitment to addressing and preventing campus interpersonal violence, the University of Tennessee joined the Culture of Respect Collective.
The Collective is an ambitious two-year program that brings together institutions of higher education who are dedicated to ending campus sexual violence and guides them through a rigorous process of self-assessment and targeted organizational change.
The program is grounded in an expert-developed public health framework, cross campus collaboration, and peer-led learning to make meaningful programmatic and policy changes.
As part of our participation, we will receive strategic support and technical assistance throughout the process, as well as detailed documentation of campus-initiated changes that support survivors, prevent sexual violence, and communicate that violence is unacceptable.
A key component to the program’s success its emphasis on cross-campus collaboration to assess, make meaningful programmatic and policy changes as needed, and then reassess progress made across the following six pillars:
- Survivor support, with options on reporting
- Clear policies, on misconduct, investigations, adjudications, and sanctions
- Multi-tiered education for the entire campus
- Public disclosure of statistics
- School wide mobilization with student groups and leaders
- Ongoing self-assessment