Fostering Institutional Accountability in Higher Education: Examining Sexual Misconduct at the University of Chicago

Although Title IX and Clery Act legislation specifically aims to prevent sexual violence on college campuses, the problem remains persistent and pervasive. According to RAINN, "among undergraduate students, 23.1% of females and 8.4% of males experience sexual assault through physical force, violence or incapacitation." My research examines institutional accountability for sexual misconduct, conducting a case study into one representative bureaucracy: the University of Chicago. I evaluate the University's current policy and implementation ability, and find that organizational decoupling is a barrier to accountability for sexual misconduct. I then recommend structural, marketing, and area-specific solutions that ameliorate institutional accountability such that sexual violence against undergraduates may be reduced in the future.