Sarah McMahon, Nationally Recognized Expert on Violence Prevention, Appointed Special Advisor to President

Originally posted in Rutgers Today

Sarah McMahon, a Rutgers School of Social Work professor and director of the school’s Center for Research on Ending Violence, joined President Jonathan Holloway’s staff on July 1, 2024, as special advisor to the president for sexual misconduct prevention and response.

A nationally respected researcher on interpersonal violence, McMahon has deep expertise in designing and conducting surveys to measure college students’ attitudes, behaviors and knowledge regarding campus violence. During this academic year, she will lead the next phase of the university’s Academic and Workplace Behaviors and Environment Survey, facilitate a universitywide steering committee on sexual misconduct and help recruit and onboard a new assistant vice president charged with coordinating the university’s Title IX compliance.

“These projects are critical to creating an environment in which all members of the Rutgers community can thrive, and there is no one better to lead this work than Sarah McMahon,” Holloway said, noting these duties will be in addition to her continued work with campus climate surveys and with improving Title IX training and reporting.

McMahon’s efforts this year on the next phase of the workplace climate survey will include sharing the results and recommendations made by a university steering committee based on the survey findings.

“This survey effort is intended to establish a baseline understanding of the climate at Rutgers regarding sexual harassment and workplace mistreatment, provide a reference point to measure future progress and assist decision-making to foster an inclusive community free from harassment,” McMahon said.

McMahon has led several research projects related to campus violence funded at the federal, state and local level. In 2014, she was invited to collaborate with the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault through the testing of a campus climate survey tool. The results of that survey, which became a national model, helped Rutgers improve its educational, counseling and treatment services for students on every Rutgers campus.

To advance efforts to prevent and effectively respond to sexual harassment, Rutgers announced in fall 2020 that the university joined with 39 other institutions and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to form an Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education. During the first year of the action collaborative’s work, Rutgers announced its commitment to administer a universitywide workplace environment survey to include all faculty and staff.

McMahon also serves on the NJ Campus Sexual Assault Task Force. She has numerous publications on the topic of sexual violence and has presented her work around the country and internationally.