STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – At the Northeast College and University Security Association (NECUSA) 55th Annual Conference held at Penn State University June 15-18, Northeastern University’s Associate Director of Public Safety James Ferrier provided a review and update of how campuses are complying with the Clery Act. He also discussed how the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 could impact colleges and universities around the nation.
Ferrier stated that while campus law enforcement is generally achieving compliance with the Clery Act, some administrators, human resource departments, RAs, coaches and other campus security authorities are still unclear how the act relates to them. Ferrier recommended they receive further training.
He also indicated that the disposition of incidents in campus crime logs is one area where campus police and security are coming up short. For example, just because a victim of sexual assault refuses to divulge the details of the crime (such as the location of the incident) does not mean it can be categorized as unfounded. Instead, Ferrier recommended that colleges adopt a system where victims can report assaults anonymously.
The topic of keenest interest to conference attendees, however, was how the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 would amend the Clery Act. According to Ferrier, if the bill is adopted, the following changes would go into affect:
- Campuses would be required to notify the public within 30 minutes of a campus emergency that threatens the safety and health of students and faculty
- Larceny, vandalism and simple assault would be added as crimes requiring reports
- Campuses would be required to create and publish policies explaining emergency and evacuation procedures, greatly increasing the size of each campus’ Clery report
- Campuses would be required to publish annual statistics, policies and programming regarding fires and fire safety
- There would be additional missing persons and mental health reporting policies
With regards to the 30-minute notification requirement, Ferrier stated he believes it will pass. He is hopeful, however, that some important issues are clarified first. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that there will be some definition worked into the bill when it gets to the Senate to give us some guidance as to what is an emergency.”
