Details of the Clery Act

The Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act is part of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The goal of the Clery Act is to ensure students, employees, prospective campus community members, and other affiliates have access to complete and accurate information about campus security procedures and crimes committed on or immediately adjacent to institutional property.

It requires institutions of higher education (IHE) that receive federal student financial aid to report statistics on certain specified crimes and to publicly disclose other safety and crime information in an annual security report. This report must be published by October 1 of each year.

Each failure to comply with the reporting requirements may result in a fine of up to $71,545, and egregious non-compliance may lead to an institution losing all or a portion of its federal student financial aid funds. As of FY 2023-2024, the UC federal student financial aid amounts to $1.7 billion per year, including Pell Grants, other undergraduate grants and scholarships, graduate fellowships and scholarships, student loans, and work-study.

What are the ongoing operational requirements of the Clery Act?

Clery Act disclosures do not include personally identifiable information or information that may reasonably lead to a victim’s or reporting party’s identity.

Crime Log

Institutions with a campus police or security department must also disclose, maintain, and permit the public to view a crime log that records all criminal incidents and alleged criminal incidents that occur within an IHE’s Clery-reportable geography or campus police/security patrol jurisdiction and that is reported to campus police or security. The crimes listed on the log are more extensive than those included in a campus’s annual security report and must include the date and time the crime occurred, a description of the reported criminal incident, the general location of the crime, and the disposition of the complaint, if known. An entry, an addition to an entry, or a change in the disposition of a complaint must be recorded within two business days. However, information may be temporarily withheld only if there is clear and convincing evidence that its release would jeopardize an ongoing investigation or compromise the safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee or evade detection, or result in the destruction of evidence.

Timely Warnings

Timely warnings are a critical part of campus safety and crime prevention. These warnings are intended to alert the campus community to potential dangers, enabling individuals to take precautions and remain informed about threats to their personal safety.

A timely warning must be issued when:

  • A Clery-reportable crime has occurred;
  • The crime occurred within Clery-reportable geography; and
  • The crime presents a serious or continuing threat to the campus community.

Timely warnings must include sufficient information to enable individuals to make informed decisions and take appropriate precautions. This may include:

  • A description of the incident and known suspect(s)
  • Date, time, and location of the crime
  • Suggested protective actions
  • How to report related information or suspicious activity

IHEs may issue warnings through email alerts, text messages, campus websites, or other widely accessible communication channels.

Emergency Notifications

Emergency notifications are triggered upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on the campus that involves an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • An active shooter
  • Extreme weather events (e.g., tornadoes, wildfires)
  • Hazardous materials incidents
  • Significant outbreaks of illness (e.g., pandemic-related threats)

IHEs must, without delay, and taking into account the safety of their community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the notification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency.

Emergency notification communication methods may include text messages, mobile app push notifications, website banners, public addresses, and other alarm systems, as well as direct contact with individuals through door-to-door patrols.

Rights and Options

In accordance with the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), institutions of higher education are required to provide all students and employees who report an incident of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking with a written explanation of their rights and options, regardless of where the incident occurred. This written information must include details on reporting options, rights to supportive measures and available resources, procedures for disciplinary action, and information on confidentiality, privacy, and legal protections.

Who is a Campus Security Authority? 

“Campus security authority” (CSA) is a Clery-specific term that encompasses four groups of individuals and organizations, identified by their function at the institution. In addition to all staff with a campus police or security department, the following CSAs must report alleged Clery-reportable crimes directly brought to their attention:

  1. Individuals with responsibility for campus security, but who do not work in a campus police or security department, such as an individual who is responsible for monitoring entrance into institutional property.
  2. 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.
  3. An official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline, and campus judicial proceedings.

Clerical, cafeteria, and facilities or maintenance staff are generally not CSAs, according to guidance. Additionally, not all faculty are CSAs. However, any faculty with responsibility outside of the classroom, for example, those who facilitate off-campus trips or oversee off-campus research facilities and mobile classrooms, is a CSA and is responsible for reporting Clery-reportable incidents to the University’s reporting structure.

There are only two positions exempt from Clery reporting obligations altogether. They are professional and pastoral counselors. Under the Clery Act, a pastoral counselor is defined as a person associated with a religious order or denomination who is recognized by that religious order or denomination as someone who provides confidential counseling and is functioning within the scope of that recognition as a pastoral counselor at the institution. A professional counselor is a person whose official responsibilities include providing mental health counseling to an institution’s community members and who is functioning within the scope of the counselor’s license or certification. This definition applies even to professional counselors who are not employees of the institution but are under contract to provide counseling.

An individual who counsels students or employees but does not meet the Clery definition of a pastoral or professional counselor is not exempt from being considered a CSA if they otherwise have significant responsibility for campus and student activities.

How can the campus best meet the requirements of the Clery Act?

Each UC Location has a Clery Officer who is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act's requirements.

To fulfill federal Clery Act obligations, a successful compliance program should include, at a minimum, the following elements:

  1. Designation of a Clery Officer
  • Appoint a Clery Officer who leads and coordinates campus Clery compliance efforts.
  • Collaborate with units such as UC Police, Title IX, student affairs, student conduct, real estate, and housing to promote a unified, comprehensive approach to crime reporting, prevention, victim support, crime assessment and notification, and emergency response, evacuation, and plan testing.
  1. Accessible Reporting Mechanisms
  • Maintain procedures that allow students and employees to report crimes occurring on or near campus, without fear of reprisal.
  • Maintain notification procedures for any student reported as missing who lives in on-campus student housing.
  • Ensure these reporting options are clearly communicated and readily available to the campus community.
  1. Identification, Notification & Training of CSAs
  • Systematically identify all CSAs by evaluating job functions and responsibilities.
  • Notify each CSA of their designation and explicitly explain their reporting obligations.
  • Provide regular training to CSAs on recognizing and reporting Clery‑reportable incidents.
  1. Local Implementation and Procedures
  • Develop detailed, campus-level procedures that operationalize broad Clery policy requirements.
  • Develop and implement programming that addresses crime prevention, security awareness, VAWA (dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking) prevention and awareness, and hazing prevention.
  1. Manage Publication and Distribution Requirements:
  • Publish and maintain a compliant daily crime and fire log.
  • Prepare, publish, and distribute a compliant Annual Security Report (ASR) and Annual Fire Safety Report (AFSR) by October 1, and ensure they are accessible to current and prospective students and employees, and the public.
  • Submit crime and fire data to the U.S. Department of Education by the federal deadline.
  • Prepare, publish, prominently post, and biannually update a compliant Campus Hazing Transparency Report (CHTR) for public review.