The future of campus reporting is conversational

David Chadwick, Founder & CEO, RealResponse

If you ask any student affairs leader how many conduct reports they wish they'd received last year, you’d probably get a surprising answer: More. Not because misconduct is more prevalent than they think, but because they recognize most concerns may not reach them at all.

That gap isn't for lack of caring. It's a structural problem, one we spend a lot of time thinking about at RealResponse.

The inherited reporting maze

We’ve collaborated with student affairs and campus safety leaders across institutions nationwide. Regardless of location or size, every conversation about how to make students more comfortable reporting comes back to two factors: 

1. Students need confidence and trust in who they’re sharing concerns with.
2. They need to have faith that they’ll receive a response, or some action will be taken, when they decide to come forward.

Most campus reporting infrastructure isn’t set up to give students these assurances.

Any given school typically juggles a portfolio of different intake processes, hotlines, and web forms depending on the type of report someone needs to submit. When someone doesn't know where to go, the likeliest outcome is that they’ll stay silent.

When people do report, the tools available to them typically only allow for tedious, one-way communication. Today’s 19- and 20-year-olds grew up with accessible, real-time, responsive communication options and are unlikely to fill out a long form or sit on hold with an outsourced call center agent. Nor are they motivated to open up if they sense that nothing will happen as a result. 

The bigger cost: Reports we can't act on 

Giving students options for sharing sensitive information (about themselves or peers)—including anonymous or confidential channels—is an important step to encouraging more reports. That said, more anonymous reports isn't automatically a win. Receiving reports is part one of the equation, part two is being able to follow up and spark productive dialogue.

We regularly hear from partners who receive a flood of anonymous tips through traditional reporting methods, and few of them go anywhere. One-way channels capture a moment, they don’t initiate a conversation. Most misconduct cases, hazing especially, aren't solved in a moment. Initial reports rarely—if ever—include all of the names, evidence, and other details necessary to investigate an incident.

Instead, administrators increasingly see students use anonymous channels to navigate uncomfortable situations long before they’re ready to file a report. This includes situations such as:

• Students seeking clarity around their institution’s policies for addressing hazing or other problematic behaviors.
• Questions about how people who report misconduct will be protected (e.g., through amnesty or anti-retaliation efforts).
• Understanding what on- and off-campus resources are available to support a friend or teammate going through a difficult time. 

Without a systematic way to communicate back-and-forth with your community, you miss out on opportunities to build that essential confidence in your reporting culture. At best, students find other ways to get their questions answered. At worst, dangerous situations could linger for months or longer, exposing more people to harm.

Trust is earned, not assumed

Creating a culture of reporting in any institution or organization starts with trust. People don’t usually open up in an initial message, especially if they think their outreach is disappearing into a void. They open up once they believe someone is actually listening, and that the process won't upend their lives. 

Consider these examples:

• One partner estimated that roughly 90% of what came through their previous reporting form was vague, unverifiable, and unusable. The first report received through RealResponse was still vague initially. But because they could follow up anonymously, the administrator kept asking questions. They were able to compile a 20-page document with names, dates, and evidence, enough to confront a student organization's leadership with confidence and take action.
• Another partner told us it took several hundred messages before a reporter felt comfortable enough to share not just what happened in a harmful incident, but who was involved. That's not an inefficiency. That's the work. And it's only possible when the reporter can come back to the conversation on their own time, at their own pace. 

Something invaluable happens when reporting becomes an ongoing conversation rather than just paperwork. If a student submits a report and hears back from "Todd," they can look him up on the campus website, start to understand his role, and build a rapport. The reporting channel becomes a true helpline, where students can get clarification about institutional policies and processes, learn about available resources and protections, and understand their options for moving forward.

Not every report needs to result in a formal investigation, but any message (big or small) deserves a thoughtful, timely response. An institution’s ability to deliver accessible, conversational reporting pathways directly impacts its ability to keep students safe and engaged.

Making it easier to protect everyone on campus

We originally built RealResponse for college athletics. But fragmented processes and outdated communication tools show up well beyond athletics departments. Greek life headquarters, residential life teams, and even compliance and ethics offices, are increasingly looking to challenge the status quo.

The fix isn't just a better hotline. It’s about making the act of reporting more intuitive, and less of a scavenger hunt. And it's about making sure every office on campus can receive, follow up on, and hand off information without making the reporter jump through hoops.

Institutions don't have a shortage of people willing to speak up. The challenge is creating reporting pathways that make it easier to do so—and ensuring that when someone reaches out, they encounter someone willing to listen. When institutions make space for conversation, provide meaningful follow-up, and connect people with appropriate resources, reporting can become more than an intake process; it can be an important part of building trust and a safer campus community.

Learn more about RealResponse on their website.