The Clery Act

Safety and security at Virginia Commonwealth University remain a top priority. In order to provide a safe and secure campus environment, and to ensure compliance with certain federal requirements, VCU notifies the community when certain crimes that pose a serious or ongoing threat to the university community occur on or near campus.

Commonly referred to as the Jeanne Clery Act, the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act requires all institutions of higher education that participate in the federal student financial aid program to disclose information about crimes on their campuses and in the surrounding communities. The U.S. Department of Education enforces compliance with the Clery Act.

Our compliance with the Clery Act

VCU is committed to keeping students, faculty and staff informed and aware of what is going on in and around our community. Communication is an essential part of ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone at VCU and the VCU Medical Center and our visitors.

VCU is already well within the compliance standards for the Clery Act and has taken the following steps to further its efforts to enhance safety, promote safe behavior and to prevent crimes.

Action steps

• Conducted awareness training  with appropriate VCU Police Department personnel
• Established well-defined parameters for the Clery core campus map
• Established protocols for responses that include the VCU Health System community and completed a  U.S. Department of Education Compliance Review Readiness process
• Reviewed  policies and protocols surrounding timely warnings and emergency notifications, which VCU’s legal counsel and its compliance officers found to be compliant
• Obtained an outside expert consultant review of the VCU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report for both 2011 and 2012
• Distributed the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report to all current students and employees, and made the report available for all prospective students and employees by posting it on various frequently visited Web pages
• Addressed process changes locally and gave requirements appropriate priority through the Clery Compliance Workgroup, a proactive collaborative Clery compliance-focused group
• Appointed dedicated resources in the VCU Police Department and Integrity and Compliance Office to maintain compliance efforts
• Created listing of all Campus Security Advisers; notifications to and training for CSAs in progress