Email the Guidepost team
Survivors and stakeholders may reach the Guidepost team directly and confidentially at [email protected] at any time. All communications are handled with strict confidentiality.
Hotline: 202-499-4323
MSU Institutional Assessment + Responsive Action
IMPORTANT WARNING
This webpage includes information related to relationship violence and sexual misconduct (RVSM) and may be triggering to readers who have had similar experiences personally or have close friends or family members with a similar experience. We encourage you to care for your safety and well-being.
If engaging with this content is difficult, or if you are seeking support, support resources are available through MSU at supportmore.msu.edu. You may exit this page at any time. QUICK EXIT
Guidepost Solutions is conducting an independent, trauma-informed assessment of Michigan State University’s culture, practices, and policies related to Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct (RVSM).
How Survivors and Stakeholders Can Engage
Your experience, perspective, and recommendations can help shape this assessment.
Guidepost is committed to providing multiple ways for survivors and stakeholders to participate in a way that feels safe and meaningful. Your feedback will help inform recommendations focused on accountability, survivor support, safety, prevention, and institutional improvement.
We understand that people have different levels of comfort with engagement. Some may wish to share detailed experiences, while others may prefer to offer recommendations about policies, culture, safety, survivor support, accountability, or institutional reform. To support these preferences, Guidepost has created several ways to participate. You may choose the option that feels right for you and may participate in more than one way.
All participation is voluntary. Survivor and stakeholder confidentiality and agency remain central to our approach throughout this process. These opportunities are intended to help Guidepost better understand community experiences, identify areas for improvement, and develop recommendations informed by those most affected. Survivors and stakeholders may engage in the assessment through multiple avenues, including the direct communication with the Guidepost team through the Hotline, survey, and guided prompts.
AVAILABLE NOW
The Survivor and Stakeholder Engagement Survey is designed to help Guidepost understand how members of the MSU community wish to engage in this assessment, what meaningful participation looks like, and what areas of reform and accountability are most important to them.
The survey also provides an opportunity to share perspectives on survivor support, reporting and response processes, institutional culture, accountability, safety, prevention efforts, and future improvements. Participants may skip questions and share only what they feel comfortable providing.
Guided Prompts give survivors and stakeholders an opportunity to share experiences, observations, concerns, and recommendations about the areas that matter most to them.
These prompts offer another way to participate without requiring a survey or interview. You may provide feedback on specific topics below, respond to as many or as few prompts as you choose, and share only what feels comfortable. These prompts are not intended to require anyone to recount personal experiences. Instead, they provide space for survivors and stakeholders to share observations, concerns, and recommendations that can inform the assessment. Your input will help Guidepost better understand community experiences and identify opportunities for meaningful, trauma-informed recommendations and institutional improvement.
Participants may select the area most relevant to them, including:
Preventing Abuse & Promoting Safety – Share Your Feedback
Culture and Trust in Leadership – Share Your Feedback
Reporting and Response – Share Your Feedback
Training Needs – Share Your Feedback
Restorative Practices & Informal Resolution – Share Your Feedback
Survivor Care & Support Services – Share Your Feedback
Policy Suggestions & Institutional Reform – Share Your Feedback
Scope and Approach
The Institutional Assessment and Responsive Action is a broad evaluation of MSU’s institutional posture — not an investigation of specific individuals and not a review limited to any single incident. It examines the policies, structures, and cultural conditions that have shaped how the university identifies, responds to, and prevents RVSM, from historical failures through to the present day.
The Guidepost team’s approach is built around three core objectives. The first is historical accountability: an honest assessment of where institutional failures occurred, what was known, and what corrective action was taken. The second is a benchmark for current progress: an independent evaluation of the reforms MSU has implemented since the Nassar matter and whether those reforms are functioning as intended. The third is a forward-looking set of recommendations: specific, actionable guidance on gaps in prevention, reporting, support, and response that require continued attention.
To accomplish this, the Guidepost team will begin with strategic planning for the engagement and stakeholder engagement. These two tasks will begin immediately and simultaneously. Stakeholder engagement offer survivors and stakeholders multiple ways to participate in the process. The team will conduct interviews with university officials and administrators, facilitate focus groups with students and campus stakeholder communities, and utilize community-wide surveys to assess the culture around RVSM across MSU. The engagement concludes with a comprehensive public report presenting findings, recommendations, and guidance on monitoring the implementation of those recommendations.
Throughout the engagement, the Collaborative Advisory Board will work directly with the Guidepost team to ensure that the scope and structure of the work takes into account the needs of survivors and stakeholders at every stage.
Updates
Since our last update, the Guidepost team has continued to advance the assessment through regular collaboration with the Collaborative Advisory Board, ongoing review of materials produced by the University, and expanded stakeholder outreach. The team continues to analyze documents received from MSU across 14 subject-matter areas and has engaged with leadership representatives from the Board of Trustees, the President’s Office, and key Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct (RVSM)-related offices to better understand institutional processes and strategically prepare for on-campus engagement activities. Guidepost has also continued outreach to faculty, staff, and other stakeholders across the MSU community, while responding to all individuals who have contacted the team through the MSU hotline. On July 16, 2026, Guidepost launched its Survivor Engagement Survey and Guided Website Prompts to provide additional opportunities for survivors and stakeholders to confidentially share feedback and recommendations in a manner that is most accessible to them. Guidepost will be on campus during the week of July 27, 2026, to conduct stakeholder interviews, tour university facilities, and hold survivor listening sessions. Additional engagement opportunities for the fall semester will be announced later this summer.
Status Update Given to Michigan State University, Collaborative Advisory Board
Guidepost Solutions Provides First Status Update on Institutional Assessment
Since launching the engagement on April 2, 2026, the Guidepost team has established core infrastructure for the assessment, including a public webpage, a confidential hotline and email (202-499-4323, [email protected]), and a secure file server. Guidepost has met regularly with the Collaborative Advisory Board, issued its first document request to MSU, and is actively reviewing over 1,800 documents received across 14 subject-matter categories. The team has initiated outreach to the Board of Trustees, the President’s office, and year-round faculty and staff. In addition, the team has responded to all individuals who have contacted the team through the hotline and email. Guidepost is planning an on-campus visit the week of July 20, 2026, to conduct stakeholder interviews, tour university facilities, and hold survivor listening sessions. Additional engagement opportunities for the fall semester will be publicized later this summer.
Status Update Given to Michigan State University, Collaborative Advisory Board
MSU announces Guidepost Solutions as Independent External Firm to Conduct the Institutional Assessment and Responsive Action
Michigan State University announced that it has selected Guidepost Solutions as an independent external firm to conduct an Institutional Assessment and Responsive Action reviewing MSU’s culture, structure, and policies related to relationship violence and sexual misconduct. The effort will include outreach, town halls, and listening sessions, and will culminate in a public report with findings, recommendations, and guidance for monitoring implementation.
MSU announces the Institutional Assessment and Collaborative Advisory Board
MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz announced plans for the Institutional Assessment and Responsive Action in partnership with a newly formed Collaborative Advisory Board comprising experts in institutional assessment, crisis response, and survivor care. The announcement committed to a comprehensive, survivor-centered process with an independent external firm conducting the work.
Institutional Assessment + Responsive Action
MSU’s Collaborative Advisory Board, comprising five subject matter experts in institutional assessment, crisis response, survivor care, and trauma-informed communication, conducted a competitive RFP process to identify the firm best qualified to carry out this work. The Board reviewed proposals, interviewed prospective firms, and recommended Guidepost Solutions to MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz. Guidepost Solutions was selected and the engagement began on April 2, 2026.
The Guidepost team brings extensive experience with Title IX matters, RVSM reviews, and institutional assessments across colleges, universities, and K-12 institutions. That depth of practice, and the methodology it has produced, directly shapes how our team approaches the MSU assessment.
Contact the Guidepost team
If you have information relevant to this assessment, wish to learn how to participate, or have questions about the engagement, please reach out. All communications are handled with strict confidentiality. Survivor confidentiality is protected at every stage of this process.
Email: [email protected]
Hotline: 202-499-4323
MSU assessment website: msu.edu/assessment
MSU support resources: supportmore.msu.edu
MSU Institutional Assessment + RAMAGELLAN MonitorshipEmpire/Liberty Review