Nearly two out of three (61.7%) campus protection professionals at institutions of higher education believe their executive administrators demonstrate support for Clery Act-related efforts, according to a new study. However, that support doesn’t automatically translate to a dedicated budget. Only 42.6% of respondents agreed that the appropriate amount of financial resources are dedicated to Clery Act compliance.
Related Article: 5 Takeaways from the Liberty University Clery Audit
These were just some of the findings of the Clery Center’s new Clery Act State of the Field Survey that was conducted this summer. More than 800 individuals from public and private colleges and universities were asked a multitude of questions on compliance with the consumer protection law, including questions on institutional support, training, emergency notification, timely warnings, policies, and more.
“While many colleges and universities demonstrate a commitment to Clery Act requirements through the establishment of key roles, training programs, and support mechanisms, significant gaps remain—particularly in budget allocation, consistent training, and stakeholder buy-in,” an executive summary of the report says.
The survey found that of the schools that have Clery Act coordinators, these employees are often pulled away from their coordinator duties to handle other tasks. Only 35% of Clery Act coordinators are spending 80-100% of their time dedicated to Clery Act compliance.
“These findings demonstrate the need for more targeted support for roles dedicated to Clery Act implementation in order to carry out their work effectively and completely,” the report says.
Other 2024 Clery Act State of the Field Survey Highlights
Here are some of the other top data points from the survey:
- The top three challenges impacting compliance efforts are training (47.8%), employee turnover (45.6%), and buy-in from stakeholders (43.6%)
- The Clery Act requirements that respondents believe have the most positive impact on safety are prevention education (60.2%), timely warnings (57.8%), emergency notifications (55.2%), and dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking response (46.1%)
- Three in four participants have a list of campus security authorities (CSAs)
- 69% provide annual training for CSAs
- 52.5% have a Clery Act team or committee
- 77.4% have a geography list and 76.5% have a geography map
- 60.7% have decision matrixes for timely warnings
- 56.3% have decision matrixes for emergency notifications
- 87.4% have a dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking prevention policy
- 25.7% of participants’ institutions have participated in a Clery Act program review with the Department of Education
- 14.7% have been fined or found in violation of the Clery Act
- 72.9% of respondents issue timely warnings semesterly (44%), monthly (21.7%), or weekly (7.2%)
Related Article: Survey Finds Campuses Using Their Emergency Notification Systems More
To read the full report, click here. Additionally, the Clery Center will be hosting a webinar on November 19 that will cover key takeaways from the study. To register for the presentation, click here.
