Important Changes for Campus Safety & Security Reporting

Postsecondary schools that participate in the Title IV federal student aid programs face significant additional requirements with respect to the annual security reports due to be issued to students, employees, and prospective students and employees no later than October 1, 2014.  Last spring President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 ("VAWA"). This law amended the Clery Act to require that schools compile statistics for incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking (collectively referred to as "sexual misconduct") that occur on or near campus. VAWA also requires that schools disclose certain policies, procedures and programs pertaining to these incidents in their annual security reports. These additional crime statistics and expanded policy and procedure statements must be included this year's annual security reports .

VAWA significantly expanded the amount of details and disclosure that schools must report regarding campus safety and security. Prior to VAWA, schools were required to include information about their policies and procedures regarding incidents of sex offenses in their annual security report. Beginning with annual security reports due to be issued no later than October 1, 2014, schools must now disclose all incidents of sexual misconduct in their annual crime statistics. A school's annual security report must also include policy statements describing the school's programs to prevent incidents of sexual misconduct, and describe the procedures that the school will follow once an incident has been reported.  Specifically, the annual security report must address the following areas:

1. The school's educational programs to promote awareness of sexual misconduct;
2. Possible sanctions that the school may impose regarding sexual misconduct;
3. Procedures that victims should follow if an incident of sexual misconduct has occurred;
4. The school's procedures for conducting a disciplinary proceeding in cases of alleged sexual misconduct;
5. Information about how the school will protect the confidentiality of a victim;
6. Written notification to students and employees about counseling, health, victim advocacy, legal assistance and other services available for victims; and
7. Written notification to victims about available accommodations to academic and living arrangements if requested by the victim.

In almost all cases the disclosures and policy descriptions required by VAWA go well beyond the information contained in a school's prior years' annual security report.

The Department of Education initiated a negotiated rule making process with various constituencies, including student representatives, advocacy groups and schools, to develop regulations to implement the changes made by VAWA. Ultimately, the group reached consensus on the set of draft regulations. The Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for public comment on June 20, 2014. After completing its review of public comments, the Department is expected to publish final regulations by November 1, 2014. Those regulations would be effective July 1, 2015.

Although the final regulations will not be published until November 1, 2014, schools are nonetheless required to comply with the VAWA changes as they prepare their annual security report due to be issued no later than October 1, 2014. In Dear Colleague Letter GEN-14-13, the Department states that until final regulations are published and effective, schools must make a good faith effort to comply with the VAWA provisions as written. The VAWA statutory language should be used as the basis for revising or developing policies, procedures and programs to be included in the school's annual security reports due to be issued by October 1, 2014.

The VAWA requirements present particular challenges to smaller schools and trade schools, such as cosmetology schools. These schools typically do not have on-campus police or dedicated security forces. The Title IX coordinator at these schools is often the director or another administrator whose primary job functions pertain to school operations. Given the size of the student body, lack of residential student housing and limited school-sponsored extracurricular activities, incidents of sexual misconduct may be infrequent at these types of institutes.

In the event that an incident of sexual misconduct does occur, the school and its team must be ready and able to respond appropriately. For example, under VAWA all participating Title IV schools must have policies and procedures for investigating sexual misconduct claims, and conduct disciplinary hearings upon the reporting of such claims. These hearings must be conducted by school officials who receive annual training on issues related to sexual misconduct and on how to conduct a hearing process that protects the safety of victims and promotes accountability. Even though such claims may be infrequent, even the smallest of Title IV schools must have these policies, procedures and programs in place as required by VAWA.