Salina Area Technical College is appealing the U.S. Department of Education’s $72,500 fine issued for failing to provide students with adequate campus security information.
Under federal law certain security information is required to be included in every college’s annual security report for students and faculty. The fine given to the small technical college in Salina, Kansas, is a response to the school’s 2010 security report. That report didn’t include some things that were required and the school was informed of the penalty in December, according to salina.com.
Among the findings issued with the penalty was the college’s failure to distribute its report to students; the report’s lack of legally required policy statements; the report’s missing crime statistics; and the report’s failure to meet drug and alcohol abuse prevention requirements.
College President Greg Goode acknowledged the college made mistakes but said he was “stunned” by the amount of the fine.
The school also argued that the information it was missing in its 2010 report was readily available to students and was covered through other means, such as the student handbook and orientation.
