CC, You Got Some 'Splainin To Do
Servio Gomez
Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: Opinion
Slipped under the Lens' door, we received a document containing a consulting report prepared by the Summit Consulting Services, LLC. The lengthy, 39-page document examines, with a fine toothed comb, the safety procedures followed by CCRI in full detail; more specifically, security procedures.
The most important issue highlighted by the document is the fact that the school has been in violation of the Clery Act. The Act states that all schools that participate in federal financial aid programs must keep record of and disclose all criminal activity occurring on or near the school's campuses. In doing this, the safety of the students, faculty, staff, and visitors are assured.
The Clery Act states that said institution must follow certain guidelines and requirements in order to be considered compliant. Policy disclosure is one of the requirements; this includes public statements of policies and practices regarding security of and access to campus facilities, procedures for students and other patrons to report suspicious activities (and emergencies) occurring on campus, and a description of the campus law enforcement functions relating to the campus.
Another requirement, information dissemination, states that an institute must provide a timely warning of any crime or emergency that might potentially be harmful to any patrons of the institute. They also must publish an annual report outlining criminal statistics for the past three years and security procedures carried out by the school.
After interviews with a few security administrators and staff, the Summit report states that the school has been in violation of the Clery Act for several years. Sound bad, don't it? Yes...yes, it does.
CCRI has been half-assing its compliance with the Clery Act by providing annual security reports for the Warwick campus only. Like always, it seems as though the school favors the biggest campus of the institute for reasons unknown.
Progress is a slow process (and it seems as though CCRI ain't got nothing but time [thanks, Jay-Z]): Along with that violation, the school has also violated the section in the Act that requires several methods of timely warning of emergencies handled by an individual or office. A month following this report, CCRI has implemented the RAVE emergency service, which is used to contact students, faculty, and staff via text or email of emergencies and school closures.
This is all fine and dandy, but what CC hasn't done is make this a mandatory service. If something severe were to happen at any of the campuses, it is imperative that all students be advised and aware of said situation. Many students are still oblivious to the fact that the school even has an emergency service. Is it fault of the student? partly.
Could the school do a better job at ensuring that no student is ignorant to the service? Definitely. How? Well...it would be nice to send out a physical letter to students demanding that they sign up for the service (or a hold on your account will be placed...but should be easily lifted once sent in, unlike the horrendous medical records fiasco last semester). To further secure safety in the future, they should also include a section in the actual application for the school.
Another possible way to fix the RAVE system is to make it just a bit more efficient. The repeated word in the Summit report read: timely. This winter, when the faux snow-storm was announced, I was glad to be informed about class cancellations at around 6am; I mention that I was glad because my classes begin at 12, the earliest.
Now, what about those students who are morning people and have morning classes? It isn't convenient finding out that you're classes are cancelled when you're half-way out the door. Make the alerts more timely. It would also be nice to know about life-threating incidents on campus sooner than a week after they occur [Flanagan Sexual Assault Attempt, 2009].
As far as yearly reports go: don't leave out campuses that make up the institute as a whole when reporting criminal activity. It is important to include all campuses; failure to do so would result in ignorance and a false sense of security.
The Clery Act is short for the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. Jean Clery was a student of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. She was raped and murdered in her residence hall at the school in 1986.
It was a sexual assault. A sexual assault that could have happened at the Flanagan campus last year (obviously, to the extreme degree). There's a reason why this Act was passed, CCRI; prevent this from happening to one of our students and keep us and the rest of the community informed "in a timely" manner.
Other things mentioned in the Summit report included failure, on the school's part, in the areas of leadership, organization, policies and procedures, training, performance management, records system, and emergency planning and preparedness. Also included are recommendations, ranging from simple suggestions, such as a tidier security office that is more professional and not cluttered, to bigger suggestions such as proper training for all security staff.
The most important issue highlighted by the document is the fact that the school has been in violation of the Clery Act. The Act states that all schools that participate in federal financial aid programs must keep record of and disclose all criminal activity occurring on or near the school's campuses. In doing this, the safety of the students, faculty, staff, and visitors are assured.
The Clery Act states that said institution must follow certain guidelines and requirements in order to be considered compliant. Policy disclosure is one of the requirements; this includes public statements of policies and practices regarding security of and access to campus facilities, procedures for students and other patrons to report suspicious activities (and emergencies) occurring on campus, and a description of the campus law enforcement functions relating to the campus.
Another requirement, information dissemination, states that an institute must provide a timely warning of any crime or emergency that might potentially be harmful to any patrons of the institute. They also must publish an annual report outlining criminal statistics for the past three years and security procedures carried out by the school.
After interviews with a few security administrators and staff, the Summit report states that the school has been in violation of the Clery Act for several years. Sound bad, don't it? Yes...yes, it does.
CCRI has been half-assing its compliance with the Clery Act by providing annual security reports for the Warwick campus only. Like always, it seems as though the school favors the biggest campus of the institute for reasons unknown.
Progress is a slow process (and it seems as though CCRI ain't got nothing but time [thanks, Jay-Z]): Along with that violation, the school has also violated the section in the Act that requires several methods of timely warning of emergencies handled by an individual or office. A month following this report, CCRI has implemented the RAVE emergency service, which is used to contact students, faculty, and staff via text or email of emergencies and school closures.
This is all fine and dandy, but what CC hasn't done is make this a mandatory service. If something severe were to happen at any of the campuses, it is imperative that all students be advised and aware of said situation. Many students are still oblivious to the fact that the school even has an emergency service. Is it fault of the student? partly.
Could the school do a better job at ensuring that no student is ignorant to the service? Definitely. How? Well...it would be nice to send out a physical letter to students demanding that they sign up for the service (or a hold on your account will be placed...but should be easily lifted once sent in, unlike the horrendous medical records fiasco last semester). To further secure safety in the future, they should also include a section in the actual application for the school.
Another possible way to fix the RAVE system is to make it just a bit more efficient. The repeated word in the Summit report read: timely. This winter, when the faux snow-storm was announced, I was glad to be informed about class cancellations at around 6am; I mention that I was glad because my classes begin at 12, the earliest.
Now, what about those students who are morning people and have morning classes? It isn't convenient finding out that you're classes are cancelled when you're half-way out the door. Make the alerts more timely. It would also be nice to know about life-threating incidents on campus sooner than a week after they occur [Flanagan Sexual Assault Attempt, 2009].
As far as yearly reports go: don't leave out campuses that make up the institute as a whole when reporting criminal activity. It is important to include all campuses; failure to do so would result in ignorance and a false sense of security.
The Clery Act is short for the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. Jean Clery was a student of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. She was raped and murdered in her residence hall at the school in 1986.
It was a sexual assault. A sexual assault that could have happened at the Flanagan campus last year (obviously, to the extreme degree). There's a reason why this Act was passed, CCRI; prevent this from happening to one of our students and keep us and the rest of the community informed "in a timely" manner.
Other things mentioned in the Summit report included failure, on the school's part, in the areas of leadership, organization, policies and procedures, training, performance management, records system, and emergency planning and preparedness. Also included are recommendations, ranging from simple suggestions, such as a tidier security office that is more professional and not cluttered, to bigger suggestions such as proper training for all security staff.
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