AN INVESTIGATION INTO TITLE IX SEXUAL ASSAULT POLICY COMPLIANCE AT LAND GRANT INSTITUTIONS

Incidents of sexual assault, and the mishandling of cases by administrators, on college campuses have been making the news recently. In 2011 the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights introduced the Dear Colleague Letter outlining policy requirements for all institutions of higher education receiving federal funding. Much of the existing literature related to sexual assault on college campuses is related to reporting numbers and education and prevention. Preventative education studies aim to determine trainings that are successful in lowering victimization rates on campuses as well as bringing attention to rape myths. This study focuses on the Title IX policies at 25 land grant institutions to determine if these institutions have adopted the new federal regulations as well as to compare the policies to each other. Using qualitative and quantitative methods of content analysis, the researcher determined counts of themes common within the policies. The findings indicate that all the institutions are in compliance with the current federal regulations but differ when it comes to the details provided by definitions, wording surrounding filing criminal charges, the presence of amnesty policies, mentions of preventative education, and the organization of policies. The researcher provides recommendations for future practice and research related to sexual assault on college campuses. Adviser: Stephanie Bond