Previously: COVID-19 & Clery FAQs | Campus Safety Strategies, Tips, & Resources for COVID-19

Mid-way through week three of nationwide social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, many campuses have moved to remote working/learning and are now serving as potential surge spaces for hospitals or quarantine housing for medical professionals. This shift might bring Clery geography questions to mind. Below are some considerations for analyzing Clery geography in a coronavirus world:

• Campus buildings now used as surge spaces for medical treatment and/or quarantine: There has not been formal guidance from the Department of Education yet on whether or not these functions would qualify as meeting the educational purposes of the institution. Normally these buildings fall under on-campus or on-campus student housing Clery geography. Because the functions of these buildings are changing, barring any additional guidance from the Department, we recommend maintaining their classification as part of your Clery geography. Were they to eventually be included in your annual security report, institutions could provide a caveat with their statistics outlining the unique circumstances in which these buildings were utilized during this timeframe.
• With that in mind, we also encourage you to reach out to the Department of Education’s federal contractor, Westat, with campus-specific questions regarding your Clery geography as this helps to communicate areas where additional Department guidance is needed. You can reach them at [email protected]. 

• Students housed at “off-campus” sites like hotels: Use the same analysis as always to determine if such locations would meet the criteria for on-campus student housing (if they are within one-mile of the on-campus borders of the institution) or noncampus property (if the location is more than a mile away). These locations would retain their Clery geography classification as long as they retain the function of noncampus property or on-campus student housing, etc.

• Alternate work locations as “extensions of the department”: At some institutions policies and procedures indicate that remote or alternate work locations are considered extensions of the institution and, therefore, policies still apply. Consider, then, how such locations would be evaluated should a Clery crime take place there. Generally, Clery Act geography is connected to property owned or controlled by the institution or a student organization officially recognized by the institution. You can find the specifics of Clery geography in Chapter 2 of the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting. Page 2-21 highlights the difference between a space versus a program agreement or, in other words, the difference between a written agreement for use of physical space versus a written agreement to collaborate on a program but without specific control of space. Although the particulars of these agreements are important for identifying Clery geography, we can say that it is atypical (although not impossible) that an agreement would give the institution physical control over someone’s private home.   For comparison, often host family situations within a study abroad program do not fall under Clery geography, because they normally do not give some significant control over space in the family home to the institution. Even so, it’s important to still consider what types of Clery Act crimes can take place virtually (like stalking or intimidation, which is evaluated for hate crime reporting), as Clery requirements are not the only thing guiding campus response. Chances are your disciplinary policies address this behavior – and you should still be prepared to receive reports of Clery crimes that took place (or are currently taking place) in your Clery geography.

Ongoing considerations for emergency notifications

Although many campuses have moved to remote learning, there may still be some individuals staying on campus who could not safely leave, as well as individuals considered essential personnel such as public safety. Your emergency notification requirements are in place to protect your on-campus community and to keep the campus informed, even if that is now a more limited group of people.

• By this point many campuses have issued emergency notifications, either because of a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the community or direct exposure to someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19. Remember that emergency notification policies should have procedures to provide necessary follow-up information. This still remains critical, even if many members of your community have moved off-campus. Since emergency notifications may be segmented, make sure to maintain an active list of who is still physically present on campus in case any future communications should be segmented to certain groups.
• Proactively inform your campus community if there are temporary changes to how facilities will be used in response to this crisis and who that will directly impact.

We’ll continue to share what we’re hearing as campuses navigate COVID-19, so if you have questions, please continue to reach out to us for technical assistance and support. We value the many ways campuses are showing up for one another during this time, and hope that we’ll have the opportunity to support you as you navigate this new temporary normal.