Complying with the Clery Act
Briget Biernat JansDirector of Financial Aid Compliance
DePaul University
Agenda Background Basic Requirements Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
(VAWA) Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act What to Check Best Practices Resources
Background Campus safety requirements in the HEA
Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 1992 Amendments added policies on sex offenses to
the annual security report 1998 Amendments expanded requirements and
renamed the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act)
2008 again expanded the requirements “Campus SaVE” provisions of the Violence Against
Women Act (VAWA) will be added October 2014
Background Law
Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act Regulations
34 Code of Federal Regulations § 668 Subpart D
Clery Act Compliance is monitored by ED
Civil penalties up to $35,000 per violation Non-compliance can lead to suspension from FSA
programs Separate team in Washington focused on monitoring
Conduct campus crime program reviews
Compliance required of all public and private postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV Requirement begins on effective date of PPA
Basic Requirements The Clery Act requires all schools to:
Collect, classify, and count crime reports and crime statistics
Publish and actively distribute an annual security report that contains all statistical and policy disclosures
Submit crime statistics to ED Issue Timely Warnings and Emergency
Notifications
Basic Requirements Requirement: Collect, classify, and count crime
reports and crime statistics Currently three crime categories (VAWA adds 4th)
Basic Requirements Requirement: Collect, classify, and count
crime reports and crime statistics Disclose reported offenses, regardless of whether
someone is found guilty “Reported” = brought to the attention of a campus
security authority or local law enforcement personnel Crimes may be reported anonymously or not, but
PII must not be included in statistics Count attempted and completed crimes Reasonable, good faith effort to obtain crime
statistics from local law enforcement
Basic Requirements Requirement: Collect, classify, and count crime
reports and crime statistics Hate crimes are motivated by the offender’s category of
bias
Arrests, referrals for disciplinary action based on violations of weapons, drug, liquor laws, not institutional policies
**Added per Matthew Shephard Act, 2009
Race Gender Religion Sexual orientation
Ethnicity/national origin
Disability Perceived gender** Gender identity**
Basic Requirements Requirement: Publish and distribute annual
security report Must publish report by October 1 each year Must be contained within a single document Must include:
three calendar year’s of campus crime statistics
All required current campus safety and security policies and procedures
Basic Requirements Requirement: Publish and distribute annual
security report Must distribute to all current students & employees
Directly by mail, hand delivery, or e-mail or By posting on an Internet or intranet site that is reasonably
accessible to current students, employees If you post online, you must distribute a notice by
October 1 with statement of report’s availability, exact URL, a description of contents, and statement that paper copy is available upon request
Basic Requirements Requirement: Publish and distribute
annual security report Must actively notify prospective students and
employees about the availability of report. Notice must include description of the report’s contents and how to obtain paper copy Must provide a copy of the ASR upon request If posted on website, notice must include URL
where ASR is posted For prospective students and employees,
an intranet site is not sufficient
Basic Requirements Requirement: Submit crime statistics to ED
Report campus crime statistics for the 3 most-recent calendar years
Must match the statistical disclosures that were published in the annual security report
Deadline for completing the web-based data collection is specified by the Secretary annually– typically mid-October
Collected data posted on OPE’s Data Analysis Cutting Tool (linked to College Navigator) for public use
Basic Requirements Requirement: Issue Timely Warnings and
Emergency Notifications Must issue campus alerts to provide members of
campus community with information necessary to make informed decisions about health and safety
Two kinds of alerts Timely warnings issued for crimes that represent a threat
to the safety of students or employees Emergency notifications are issued upon the
confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation on campus involving immediate threat to health or safety
Basic Requirements
Basic Requirements Requirement: Issue Timely Warnings and
Emergency Notifications Annual security report must Include policy statements on
both timely warnings and emergency response and notification procedures
All policy statements must accurately reflect policies and procedures currently used at the institution
FERPA does not preclude compliance with the timely warning provision Emergency exception to FERPA allows for PII disclosure
to protect the health and safety of others Law enforcement records are not protected by FERPA
Basic Requirements Additional requirements:
Institutions with campus police or security departments must additionally maintain a daily crime log
Institutions with on-campus student housing facilities must additionally Disclose missing student notification procedures
that pertain to students residing in those facilities
Comply with fire safety requirements
Basic Requirements Requirement: Daily Crime Log A daily record of criminal and alleged criminal
incidents reported to campus police or security department All crimes on Clery geography or within patrol
jurisdiction of the campus police/security department Not just Clery Act crimes Records nature, date the crime was reported, time,
date, general location, and disposition (if known) of each crime
Basic Requirements
Basic Requirements Requirement: Daily Crime Log
Log must be available Must be accessible on-site (written or electronic) Available upon request for public inspection during business
hours (most recent 60 days available immediately; older records available within two business days)
Must be available without payment or written request Log must be maintained
Must make additions or updates to an entry within two business days
Update disposition up to 60 days from when crime was entered in the log
Schools must archive log for seven years
Basic Requirements Requirement: Missing Student Notification
Annual security report must Include policy statement addressing missing student notification for students residing in on-campus student housing
Include the procedures institution will follow if any of those students is determined to be missing for 24 hours
Must give students living in on-campus student housing facilities the option to register confidential contact information Confidential information must be kept separate from general
emergency contact information Only authorized campus officials may have access to
the information Information may only be disclosed to law enforcement in
furtherance of a missing person investigation
Basic Requirements
Requirement: Fire Safety Policies and Statistics 4 components
Publish and distribute annual fire safety report Submit fire statistics to ED Maintain log of reported fires Conduct safety drills
Basic Requirements Requirement: Publish an annual fire safety report
Must publish annual fire safety report by October 1 each year
Report must include: Fire statistics Current fire safety policies and procedures
Annual fire safety report and annual security report May be published separately or together If separately, specify how to access the other
report in each one
Basic Requirements Requirement: Submit fire statistics to ED
Must annually submit 3 years worth of statistics to ED Reported via same web-based collection tool as campus
crime statistics Includes statistics for each on-campus student housing facility
Statistics include: Number and cause of each fire Number of persons with fire-related injuries resulting in
treatment at a medical facility Number of deaths related to a fire Value of property damage
Basic Requirements Requirement: Maintain log of reported fires
Record of any fire that occurs in an on-campus student housing facility Records nature, date the fire was reported, time,
date, nature, and general location of each fire Must be written and easily understood
Annual report to the campus community on fires recorded in the log
Basic Requirements Requirement: Maintain log of reported fires
Log must be available Must be accessible on-site (written or electronic) Available upon request for public inspection during business hours (most
recent 60 days available immediately; older records available within two business days)
Must be available without payment or written request Log must be maintained
Must make additions or updates to an entry within 2 business days Update disposition up to 60 days from when entered in the log Schools must archive log for seven years
May be combined with the daily crime log Label it well so users know it is both a crime and fire log Ensure that it contains the required elements for both logs
VAWA Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
of 2013 (Pub. Law 113-4) Enacted March 7th, 2013 Amended the Clery Act Requires institutions to compile statistics for
certain crimes reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies
Requires institutions to include certain policies, procedures, and programs about these crimes in their annual security reports
VAWA Affects annual security reports and crime
statistics reported to ED beginning fall 2014 ED is in the process of implementing these
changes Until final regs issued, institutions must make
a good faith effort to comply with the statute Final of three Negotiated Rulemaking Committee
meetings was held earlier this week
VAWA October 2014 – Institutions complete annual
security reports and report to ED using good faith effort
GOAL - Final regulations published by November 1, 2014 July 2015 – Final regulations become effective
October 2015 – Institutions complete annual security reports and report statistics to ED under final regulations
VAWA New requirements
Additional statistics Sexual assault Domestic violence Dating violence Stalking
Prevention programs and awareness campaigns Victim’s bill of rights Revises requirements around institutional
disciplinary proceedings
Drug-Free Schools & Communities Act
Implemented in 34 CFR Part 86 Institutions must certify they have developed
and implemented drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention program Must be designed to prevent the unlawful possession,
use, and distribution of drugs and alcohol on campus and at recognized events and activities
Institutions must distribute certain information to students and employees annually
Must do a biennial review of the program
Drug-Free Schools & Communities Act Annual disclosure
Must share information with current students, employees
34 CFR § 86.100 outlines the information that must be included: Standards of conduct prohibiting the possession, use,
and distribution of drugs and alcohol Possible sanctions for violations of Federal, state,
and local drug and alcohol laws, as well as sanctions for violation of institutional policies
Drug-Free Schools & Communities Act Annual disclosure
Must include (cont’d) Health risks associated with the use of drugs and
alcohol Information on counseling, rehabilitation, and
treatment programs Clear statement that school will impose sanctions on
students and employees who violate drug and alcohol laws, ordinances, and/or institutional policies
Drug-Free Schools & Communities Act Biennial Review
Objectives Determine the effectiveness of your drug and
alcohol abuse prevention program Ensure consistent enforcement of applicable laws,
ordinances, and institutional policies against violators
The biennial review report and supporting documents must be maintained and made available to ED upon request
What to Check Make sure that your school has an Annual
Security Report Is it accurate and complete? Was it distributed properly?
Review campus security policies Do the policies pass the reasonableness test? Use what you know about ED’s standards for policy
development
Take a look at the crime log Does your school have one? Is it accessible to the public?
Best Practices Appoint and empower a Clery Act Compliance Officer Develop an understanding of “Clery Geography” Identify and train “Campus Security Authorities” Specifically inform students and employees about how
to report crimes and emergencies Check crime statistics for similar schools using the
“Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool” http://www.ope.ed.gov/security/
Resources The Handbook for Campus Safety and
Security Reporting (revised February 2011) http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook.pdf
Handbook Help Desk Clarifications – see 3/26/12 communication
https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/security/HelpDeskEmailView.aspx
1-800-435-5985 or [email protected]
Resources ED Campus Safety website (includes a
training video) http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/campus.
html Federal Student Aid Self-Assessment of
Clery Compliance http://ifap.ed.gov/qahome/qaassessments/cons
umerinformation.html Federal Student Aid Data Center – Clery Act
Reports (see compliance reviews) http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov/datacenter/clery
act.html
Resources 5/29/2013 Electronic Announcement with
preliminary guidance http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/052913Implement
ofChangesMade2CleryActViolenceAgainstWomenReauthorizationAct2013.html
Questions?