STORRS — After a week that began with allegations that the University of Connecticut had previously failed to protect students from sexual assault, school officials are asking for student feedback on the issue.

In a letter emailed to the university community on Friday, UConn President Susan Herbst said that an invitation will be sent out Monday asking students to share their perspective on "our campus culture and safety when it comes to issues of sexual harassment and violence."

The survey is the first step of many, said university spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz. There are many measures already in place to prevent sexual assault, she added.

"Certainly anything we can do to raise awareness," Reitz said.

The feedback will be gathered by the President's Task Force on Civility and Campus Culture, which according to Herbst's letter has spent the fall semester working to prepare recommendations for the school on a number of matters, including sexual harassment and violence.

"We are fortunate that UConn has so many dedicated and talented students, staff, and faculty who are working together to prevent sexual harassment and violence in all its forms," Herbst said in the letter. "We also know that we must routinely assess and reassess all our efforts to prevent sexual assault, to provide services to victims, and to hold perpetrators accountable."

On Monday, seven students and former students filed a federal discrimination complaint against UConn, alleging that the university failed to protect them from sexual assault on campus and to respond adequately after they had reported assaults. The complaint was filed under provisions in federal law known as Title IX.

At a press conference Monday, civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred said that UConn's administration had shown "deliberate indifference" to sexual assaults perpetrated on campus.

Herbst said that those accusations were "astonishingly misguided and demonstrably untrue." Speaking outside a board of trustees' meeting on Wednesday at which she defended the school's actions, Herbst said the university has an ongoing evaluation of its policies and welcomes input from students, staff, faculty, police and legal counsel.

A small group of UConn students attending the trustees' meeting said afterward that they were disappointed in Herbst's response.

Kristina Barsczewski, a senior, said that Herbst's comments were aimed at "saving face and making it look like UConn is making all these great strides." She said that, in reality, that isn't the case.

The discrimination complaint is pending before the federal Department of Education.