IX. THE COLLEGE’S EXTERNAL REPORTING OBLIGATIONS
A. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act ( the “Clery Act”)
- Statistical Reporting:
- Certain College officials have a duty to report certain misconduct for federal statistical reporting purposes. All personally identifiable information is kept confidential, but statistical information must be passed along to campus law enforcement regarding the type of incident and its general location (on or off-campus, in the surrounding area, but no addresses are given) for publication in the annual Campus Security Report. This report helps to provide the community with a clear picture of the extent and nature of campus crime, to ensure greater community safety. Mandated federal reporters include: student/conduct affairs, campus law enforcement, local police, coaches, athletic directors, residence life staff, student activities staff, human resources staff, advisors to student organizations and any other official with significant responsibility for student and campus activities. The information to be shared includes the date, the location of the incident (using Clery location categories) and the Clery crime category. This reporting protects the identity of the victim and may be done anonymously.
2. Timely Warning:
- Complainants should also be aware that College administrators must issue immediate timely warnings for incidents reported to them that are confirmed to pose a substantial threat of bodily harm or danger to members of the campus community. For purposes of the Timely Warning requirement, the College will not disclose a Complaint’s name. However, the College will provide enough information for community members to make safety decisions in light of the danger. The reporters for timely warning purposes are exactly the same as detailed in the paragraph above.
B. FERPA
The outcome of a campus hearing is part of the educational record of the Respondent, if they are a student, and the employee record if they are a faculty or staff member. The educational records of students are protected from release under a federal law, FERPA. The College complies with FERPA regulations regarding the privacy of student records and observes the following exceptions to FERPA as mandated by the Clery Act:
- The Complainant(s) in a non-consensual sexual contact/intercourse incident have the right to be informed of the finding, and sanction(s) of the investigation or hearing, in writing, except that any documents prepared for or as a result of any investigation and/or hearing shall remain protected from re-disclosure.
- The Complainant(s) in sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, stalking, relationship violence and any other gender- based offense have the right to be informed of the finding, in writing, and to be informed of any sanction(s) that directly relate to them, and to essential facts supporting the outcome when the outcome is “responsible” (and the underlying offense is a crime of violence as defined below and in 34 C.F.R. 99.39) and/or it is equitable to share the essential findings with all parties.
- The College may release publicly the name, nature of the violation and the sanction(s) for any student who is found in violation of a College policy that is a “crime of violence,” including: arson, burglary, robbery, criminal homicide, sex offenses, assault, intimidation (which may encompass stalking and/or bullying), hazing, destruction/damage/vandalism of property and kidnapping/abduction. The College will release this information to the Complainant in any of these offenses regardless of the outcome.
New Title IX guidelines are published on the Title IX and CARES website and can be found here.
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