Clery Act and Title IX
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) is a federal mandate requiring all institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in the federal student financial aid program to disclose information about crime on their campuses and in the surrounding communities. The Clery Act affects virtually all public and private IHEs and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Campuses that fail to comply with the act can be penalized with large fines and may be suspended from participating in the federal financial aid program.
The U.S. Department of Education created The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting to present step-by-step procedures, examples, and references for higher education institutions to follow in meeting the campus safety and security requirements of the amended Higher Education Act of 1965.
This Annual Security & Fire Safety Report is published in accordance with the requirements of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and its implementing regulations. The purpose of this Report is to provide faculty, staff, students and campus visitors (collectively, the "campus community" with an overview of Oakland University's security resources, policies, and procedures. These policies and procedures are subject to change at any time.
What is a CSA?
The OU Police Department encourages all members of the campus community to report crimes on a timely basis. However, under the Clery Act, CSAs are required to report Clery Act qualifying crimes which occurred on campus, in public areas bordering campus and in certain non-campus buildings owned or controlled (leased) by the University. CSAs should only report those crimes that have not been previously reported to University Police or another University CSA. The intent of including non-law enforcement personnel in the CSA role is to acknowledge that some community members and students, in particular, may be hesitant about reporting crimes to the police, but may be more inclined to report incidents to other campus-affiliated individuals.
The law defines four categories of CSAs:
- University Police Department sworn personnel and department administrators.
- Non-police individuals of offices responsible for campus security. These CSAs have security presence or access control authority on university property. (e.g. Building and Grounds, Night Watch, First Aid Support Team, ushers at sporting events, etc.)
- Officials with significant responsibility for student and campus activities. (e.g. deans, student affairs professionals, student housing staff, athletic director/assistant directors, coaches, student activities coordinators, student judicial officers, and faculty/staff advisors to student organizations.)
- Any individual or organization specified in an institution's statement of campus security policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses.
I've been told I'm a CSA. Now What?
Getting started is easy:
- First, watch this CSA training video.
- Next, fill out this form to tell us you've watched the video.
- Lastly, notify us of crimes you're told about by filling out a CSA Report Form.
I've been told about a crime. What Should I Do?
When a crime is reported to you, first ask the person if they would like to report it to OU Police. If so, contact us at (248) 370-3331. If you have firsthand knowledge and confirmation that the reporting party filed a police report with OU Police, then are not obligated to take any further action. However, if the reporting party says they will file a police report with OU Police, leaving you with no firsthand knowledge and confirmation that a police report was filed, then you must still complete and submit a CSA Report Form.
Gather as much information about the incident to sufficiently fill out the CSA Report Form. You should not investigate the crime or attempt to determine whether a crime, in fact, took place. When in doubt, a CSA Report Form should be completed and submitted!
What Should I Tell the Reporting Party?
The following is a sample of what you can tell a reporting party who comes to you to report a crime:
"As part of my position on campus I am a federally mandated crime reporter for the University. I am required to report this incident to OU Police for data gathering. If you request confidentiality, the CSA Report Form will not include your name, or that of any other involved individuals. My report will contain only the information you provide. Do you have any questions? Would you like to help me fill it out?"
Transcript
Welcome to the Clery Act Training for Campus Security Authorities or CSAs. Hello, I'm Officer Burkhardt here at Oakland University Police Department. At our institution, your safety and well being our highest priorities. We're committed to maintaining a secure, inclusive and respectful environment where everyone can learn, work, and thrive without fear. This training video was part of our ongoing efforts to keep our campus community informed, prepared, and empowered. Whether you're a student, faculty member or staff, understanding the safety protocols and knowing how to respond in various situations is essential. Thank you for taking the time to watch this video and for playing an active role in making our campus a safer place for all. Together, we can ensure that Oakland University remains a welcoming and secure environment. The Clery Act is a federal law that requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding to track and disclose information about crime on and near their campuses. It's named after Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old student who was raped and murdered in her campus residence hall in 1986. The law was enacted to ensure transparency and accountability around campus safety. Under the Clery Act, institutions must publish an annual security report and maintain a daily crime log among other requirements. A key part of this system is you, the campus security authority. You are a campus security authority if your official role involves significant responsibility for student and campus activities. This includes resident life staff, coaches, faculty advisors to student groups, Title IX coordinators, and campus police. If someone tells you about a potential crime, including hazing, you have a duty to report it to the appropriate campus official. You must report clearly defined crimes that occur on campus and student housing and on public property adjacent to campus. As of recent updates, hazing is now explicitly included. This is in response to rising concerns about student organization practices and the serious harm they can cause. Hazing is any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers, regardless of the person's willingness. This can include physical abuse, forced consumption of alcohol or substances, sleep deprivation or tasks that cause psychological stress. Even if the student says they consented, it is still considered hazing if it meets the criteria. Under the Clery Act and anti-hazing laws, you must report incidents or disclosures of hazing. You cannot guarantee confidentiality. You may reassure the individual that their identity will be protected to the extent possible, but you must still report the incident. Only certain counselors and health professionals acting in that role are exempt from CSA reporting requirements. I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but something happened at the fraternity retreat. They made us drink a lot and one guy passed out and had to go to the hospital. We weren't allowed to leave. In this situation, the advisor is a CSA. Even if the student is hesitant, this is a clearly reportable incident, potential hazing, possible alcohol abuse, and a medical emergency. The CSA should thank the student for sharing, take basic notes and follow reporting procedures and avoid probing questions. This type of report helps identify dangerous patterns, enables outreach to affected students and can prevent future harm. Failure to comply with Clery reporting can result in significant fines up to $71,545 per violation, as well as lawsuits and loss of federal funding. But the real cost is student safety. Timely and accurate reporting helps prevent future crimes and supports a culture of accountability. As a campus security authority, your attentiveness and action matter, students trust you. By understanding your role, especially with the addition of hazing as a reportable offense, you help ensure that your campus is a safe place to live, learn, and grow. Thank you for taking the time to complete this important training. At Oakland University, safety is a shared responsibility, and your awareness, preparedness, and involvement make a real difference. As an officer with OUPD, I want to assure you that our department is here for you 24/7. We're committed to building a campus environment where everyone feels secure, respected, and supported. If you ever see something concerning or need assistance, don't hesitate to reach out. Your voice matters and your actions help create a safer campus for us all. Stay safe, stay aware, and thank you for being an active part of our community.
The Clery Act applies to certain crimes reported to the police and other University officials known as Campus Security Authorities (CSA). CSA's are federally mandated crime reporters. As such, CSA's shall report, on a timely basis, any qualifying crimes that they are made aware of to the OU Police Department. OU Police will use the submitted information to verify the appropriate classification of the crime. It is important for CSA's to document sufficient incident detail to allow OU Police to properly classify the crime type.
Group A Offenses
Murder/Non-Negligent Manslaughter: the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. NOTE: Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicides, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides are excluded.
Negligent Manslaughter: the killing of another person through gross negligence.
Robbery: the taking or attempting to take anything from value of the care, custody or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
Aggravated Assault: an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife or other weapon is used which could or probably would result in a serious potential injury if the crime were successfully completed.
Burglary: The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. For reporting purposes this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or a felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Motor Vehicle Theft: The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access, even though the vehicles are later abandoned - including joy riding)
Arson: The willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, or personal property of another kind.
Weapon Law Violations: The violation of laws or ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as: manufacture, sale, or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Drug Abuse Violations: Violations of state and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include: opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine); marijuana; synthetic narcotics (Demerol, methadones); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, Benzedrine).
Liquor Law Violations: The violation of laws or ordinance prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition.)
NOTE: The above listed crime definitions from the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook
Sex Offenses
Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.
Rape: The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances in which the victim is incapable of giving consent.
Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or, not forcibly or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
Incest: Nonforcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
Statutory Rape: Nonforcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
NOTE: The above listed crime definitions from the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook, 2013 Revised UCR definition of Rape, as prescribed by 2014 VAWA Negotiated Rulemaking Final Consensus Language.
Hate Crimes
OU is also required to report statistics for hate (bias) related crimes by the type of bias as defined below for the following classifications: murder/non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, sex offenses (forcible and non-forcible), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson (see definitions above) and larceny, vandalism, intimidation, and simple assault (see definitions below).
Larceny: The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.
Vandalism: To willfully or maliciously destroy, injure, disfigure, or deface any public or private property, real or personal, without the consent of the owner or person having custody or control by cutting, tearing, breaking, marking, painting, drawing, covering with filth, or any other such means as may be specified by local law.
Intimidation: To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.
Simple Assault: An unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration or loss of consciousness.
If a hate crime occurs where there is an incident involving intimidation, vandalism, larceny, simple assault or other bodily injury, the law requires that the statistic be reported as a hate crime even though there is no requirement to report the crime classification in any other area of the compliance document.
A hate or bias related crime is not a separate, distinct crime, but is the commission of a criminal offense which was motivated by the offender's bias. For example, a subject assaults a victim, which is a crime. If the facts of the case indicate that the offender was motivated to commit the offense because of his bias against the victim's race, sexual orientation, etc... the assault is then also classified as a hate/bias crime.
Other Offenses
Dating Violence: Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.
(1) The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party's statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
(2) For the purpose of this definition, dating violence includes but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse and does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.
Domestic Violence: A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed
(1) By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim.
(2) By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common.
(3) By a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner.
(4) By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
(5) By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
Stalking: Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to
(1) Fear for the person's safety or the safety of others; or
(2) Suffer substantial emotional distress.
(3) For the purpose of this definition, Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method device, or means follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, or interferes with a person's property. Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling. Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.
(4) Report the location as where a perpetrator engaged in the stalking course of conduct or where a victim first became aware of the stalking.
(5) Report any additional behaviors that meet the above definition of Stalking if they occur or continue to occur after an official intervention has been put in place, including, but not limited to, an institutional disciplinary action or the issuance of a no contact order, restraining order or any warning by the institution or a court.
NOTE: Additions from 2014 VAWA Negotiated Rulemaking Final Consensus Language
Oakland University Police Department
201 Meadow Brook Road
Rochester, MI 48309-4451
(location map)
Campus Phone: 911
Cell Phone and Non-Emergency: (248) 370-3331
Campus Status Hotline: (248) 370-2000
Hours of Operation: 24/7 Lobby and Communications
Fax: (248) 370-3341
Oakland University Police Department
201 Meadow Brook Road
Rochester, MI 48309-4451
(location map)
Campus Phone: 911
Cell Phone and Non-Emergency: (248) 370-3331
Campus Status Hotline: (248) 370-2000
Hours of Operation: 24/7 Lobby and Communications
Fax: (248) 370-3341
