DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/28XT-3912

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0247-5232

Defense Date

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Education

First Advisor

Dr. Beth Bukoski

Second Advisor

Dr. Jeffrey Wilson

Third Advisor

Dr. Jesse Senechal

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Tammi Slovinsky

Abstract

Resident Assistants (RAs) are student employees on campus with significant responsibility for the safety and success of their peers. While studies are beginning to evaluate the effects of this complex peer leader role on the wellbeing of student staff, there is little discussion about their role in Title IX compliance or how they feel about the resources they are trained to provide to their peers following an incident of prohibited sexual harassment or assault. Tangential references to the impact of sexual violence response on student staff wellness, and evaluations of student perceptions of Title IX policy are frequent in the literature, but the RA is a casual participant in these evaluations, rather than the focus.

As Title IX compliance continues to shift at the federal level, it is important to consider how employees responsible for Title IX response are affected by this work. RAs provide a unique perspective on these issues as both student and staff, with several interesting observations to share about campus climate and policy implementation. This study sought to understand how RAs feel about Title IX services on their campus, and how their perceptions of this resource for their students affected their help-seeking behavior if they also experienced Title IX prohibited conduct while enrolled in college. A nationally representative sample of RA perceptions gathered via survey and subsequent interviews with RA survivors of Title IX prohibited conduct indicated that this population has a different perspective of their resources for support after sexual violence and that they perceive barriers to access that may not be adequately addressed in the current literature. RAs in this study offered unique considerations for practitioners interested in supporting RA access to Title IX and other supportive services on-campus. These results provide both practitioners and scholars with novel data about this population, never before captured in the literature.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

5-5-2023

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