The foundation for effective campus response is thoughtfully crafted policies that take into consideration the unique needs of the campus community. While certain specific campus safety policies are required under federal law (e.g. Title IX and the Clery Act), colleges and universities can tailor their policy language and implementation of these policies to their own campus culture.
The list of resources and guides have been compiled to help administrators develop effective policies and procedures that support safe campuses.
Advocates as Campus Security Authorities: Clarification on Victim Advocate Reporting Responsibilities Under the Clery Act clarifies victim advocate reporting responsibilities as Campus Security Authority (CSA) and how advocates can maintain trust and be a critical resource for students and employees while fulfilling their federal obligations under the Clery Act
Campus Sexual Assault: Suggested Policies and Procedures is a report from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) that outlines: the problem and consequences of campus sexual assault, the laws related to protect students from gender violence, how to develop strong policies and procedures, and the responsibility of faculty members in addressing the issue. Read about the approaches in ending campus sexual violence and how faculty members can support this important movement.
On July 14, 2014, The U.S. Department of Education released its clarification on “the implementation of changes to the Jeanne Clery Act made through the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA)”. The Clery Center offered highlights of areas that will change through the Reauthorization Act. The letter requests a “good faith effort” to have options and accommodations for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and to implement and organize procedures following such incidents. The U.S. Department of Education also published 2013 statistics concerning those issues.
The Office of Victims of Crimes (OVC) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police developed these downloadable resources include model policy on response to victims of crime and an educational training key for law enforcement agencies. The model policy emphasizes the integral nature of an effective response to the needs of crime victims to the law enforcement mission. The concepts and issues paper is designed to accompany the model policy and provides essential background material and supporting documentation on the developmental philosophy and implementation requirements of the model policy.
In light of recent policy changes in support of domestic violence screening in health care settings, this policy brief presents the state of practice and research on this preventive service. The brief discusses reasons for screening in health care settings, the current prevalence of screening and reasons this prevalence is relatively low, existing evidence about screening, and next steps for ensuring that screening becomes an effective preventive service.
The now famous Dear Colleague Letter issued by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on April 4, 2011 is a great starting point for information on higher education institutions’ obligation to prohibit sexual harassment and sexual violence under Title IX.
