In 1990, Congress enacted the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act (Title II of Public Law 101-542), which amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA, 20 USC 1092(f)). This act required all postsecondary institutions participating in HEA’s Title IV student financial assistance programs to disclose campus crime statistics and security information. The law was renamed in 1998 as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act) in memory of Jeanne Clery, a student slain in her dorm room in 1986 by a fellow Lehigh University student who unlawfully entered her residence hall with the intention of burglarizing rooms.
The Clery Act and its related regulations require colleges and universities to disclose crime statistics, issue campus alerts and warning notices, publish an annual security report, keep a crime log, provide educational programs and campaigns, disclose procedures for institutional disciplinary actions, and submit specified crime statistics to the Department of Education. Because UC Santa Cruz has on-campus student housing facilities, the University must also disclose missing student notification procedures and fire safety information (i.e., publish an annual fire safety report, keep a fire log, and submit fire statistics to the Department of Education).
The University of California Office of the President invites comments on the interim Clery Act Policy – Campus Safety and Security Reporting. The policy was approved on an interim basis in July 2022 and is now open for comment as a part of the final approval process. Following the interim issuance, a Systemwide Clery Policy Working Group was formed that included representation from campus Chief Compliance & Ethics Officers, Clery Coordinators, CARE Offices, Ombuds, Title IX, Community Safety, and UC Legal. The working group conducted workshops with key stakeholder groups to gather feedback on the interim Policy, compile additional feedback on the policy, and begin the development of implementation guidance. The revisions include the following:
- Conforming with the formal text of the Clery Act and the Department of Education’s recent directives and enforcement cases.
- Removal of the language regarding the categorical exemption of all CARE Advocates, Ombuds, and all other confidential campus offices as Campus Security Authority (CSA), and a clarification that employees with responsibilities within the scope of their license, as professional or pastoral counselors, are not CSAs for the purposes of this Policy.
Given their myriad of organizational differences, each UC campus is afforded the implementation flexibility necessary to comply with the Clery Act. However, a systemwide Clery Act policy aims to standardize reporting and operational efforts wherever possible. For more information on how UC Santa Cruz coordinates activities that support the Jeanne Clery Campus Security Act, please visit https://police.ucsc.edu/crime-prevention/clery.html.
Policy comments may be sent to the Policy Coordination Office at pco@ucsc.edu by close of business on June 8, 2023.
