On July 22, 2015, the Department of Education issued a Dear
Colleague Letter providing an overview of the nal regulations to
the Clery Act, released in October 2014.
The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act amended the
Jeanne Clery Act to aord additional rights to campus victims of
sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
A few key reminders:
• All policies and procedures, including those for the
added crimes of dating violence, domestic violence,
and stalking, should be updated and in place, by the
July 1, 2015 deadline.
• Institutions should maintain credible documentation
that substantiates their crime statistics.
• The Department will phase in the new statistical
requirements by collecting data until three years are
represented, starting with an institution’s statistics for
the 2014 calendar year.
• Institutions will be required to report the contact
information of their lead Title IX Coordinator in their
2015 Campus Safety and Security Survey.
Institutions should look to the regulations to inform their
policy and program development; however, this checklist can
be used as a method of evaluating what practices currently
exist at a specific college or university related to the Violence
Against Women Act amendments to the Clery Act and
identifying action steps moving forward.
Checklist:
VAWA Amendments to Clery
Statistical Reporting
Requirement Site Practice Action Steps
Reports statistics for the required crimes:
Sex oenses
For recording sex oenses:
• If rape, fondling, incest,
or statutory rape occurs
in the same incident as
a murder, the institution
records both the sex
oense and the murder in
its statistics
• Domestic violence
• Dating Violence
• Stalking
For recording reports on stalking, the institution:
Records a crime statistic
for each and every year in
which the course of conduct
is reported to a local police
agency or to a campus
security authority
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Site Practice
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Statistical Reporting
Requirement Site Practice Action Steps
For recording reports of stalking, the institution:
Records each report of
stalking as occurring only at
the rst location within the
institution’s Clery geography
in which a perpetrator
engaged in the stalking course
of conduct or a victim rst
became aware of the stalking
For hate crimes, reports additional categories of bias (in addition to: race, gender, religion, sexual
orientation, ethnicity, & disability):
• Gender identity
• National origin
Reports to the Department of
Education and discloses in its
annual security report statis-
tics the total number of crime
reports that were “unfounded”
and subsequently withheld
from its crime statistics*
* SEE: “Denitions & Terms: Unfounded Crimes”
Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
Law Enforcement Relationships & Jurisdiction
Addresses the enforcement
authority and jurisdiction of
security personnel
Site Practice
Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
Addresses the working
relationship of campus security
personnel with State and local
police agencies, including:
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• Whether those security
personnel have the
authority to make arrests
• Any agreements, such
as written memoranda of
understanding between
the institution and
such agencies for the
investigation of alleged
criminal oenses
Procedures Victims Should Follow if a Crime of Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating
Violence, or Stalking Has Occurred
Questions to consider:
• Does the institution provide the victim with information about these procedures in writing?
• Is this information also reected within the institution’s annual security report?
The importance of preserving
evidence that may assist
in proving that the alleged
criminal oense occurred
or that may be helpful in
obtaining a protection order
How and to whom the alleged
oense should be reported
Options about the
involvement of law
enforcement and campus
authorities, including
notication of the victim’s
option to:
Site Practice
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Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
• Notify proper law
enforcement authorities,
including on-campus and
local police
• Be assisted by campus
authorities in notifying law
enforcement authorities if
the victim so chooses
• Decline to notify such
authorities
• Where applicable, the
rights of victims and the
institution’s responsibilities
for orders of protection,
“no-contact” orders,
restraining orders, or
similar lawful orders issued
by a criminal, civil, or tribal
court or by the institution
Condentiality
Information about how the
institution will protect the
confidentiality of victims
and other necessary
parties, including how the
institution will:
• Complete publicly available
record keeping, including
Clery Act reporting and
disclosures, without the
inclusion of personally
identifying information
about the victim
Site Practice
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Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
• Maintain as condential
any accommodations
or protective measures
provided to the victim,
to the extent that
maintaining such
condentiality would
not impair the ability of
the institution to provide
the accommodations or
protective measures
Disciplinary Action
See below for specic descriptions and denitions for “prompt, fair, and impartial proceeding,”
“advisor,” “proceeding,” and “result.”
Explanation of the procedures for institutional disciplinary action in cases of alleged dating
violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including:
• Description of each type
of disciplinary proceeding
used by the institution
• Steps, anticipated timelines,
and decision-making
process for each type of
disciplinary proceeding
• How to le a disciplinary
complaint
• How the institution
determines which type of
proceeding to use based
on the circumstances of
an allegation
• Description of the
standard of evidence that
will be used during any
institutional disciplinary
proceeding
Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement Site Practice
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
• List of all of the possible
sanctions that the
institution may impose
following the results
of any institutional
disciplinary proceeding
for an allegation of
dating violence, domestic
violence, sexual assault,
or stalking
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• Description of the range
of protective measures
that the institution
may oer to the victim
following an allegation
Provides that the proceedings will:
• Include a prompt, fair, and
impartial process from the
initial investigation to the
nal result
• Be conducted by ocials
who, at a minimum,
receive annual training on:
» the issues related
to dating violence,
domestic violence,
sexual assault, and
stalking
» how to conduct an
investigation and
hearing process that
protects the safety of
victims and promotes
accountability
Site Practice
Site Practice
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Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
• Provide the accuser and
the accused with the same
opportunities to have
others present during any
institutional disciplinary
proceeding, including
the opportunity to be
accompanied to any related
meeting or proceeding by
the advisor of their choice*
* NOTE: The institution may not limit the choice of advisor or presence for either the accuser or
the accused in any meeting or institutional disciplinary proceeding; however, the institution may
establish restrictions regarding the extent to which the advisor may participate in the proceedings,
as long as the restrictions apply equally to both parties.
Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
Disciplinary Action
See below for specic descriptions and denitions for “prompt, fair, and impartial proceeding,”
“advisor,” “proceeding,” and “result.”
States that the institution will simultaneously notify, in writing, both the accuser and the accused of:
• The result of any
institutional disciplinary
proceeding that arises from
an allegation of dating
violence, domestic violence,
sexual assault, or stalking
• The institution’s procedures
for the accused and the
victim to appeal the result of
the institutional disciplinary
proceeding, if such
procedures are available
Site Practice
Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
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• Any change to the result
• When such results
become nal
Written Notication
Statement that the institution
will provide written
notication to students and
employees about existing
counseling, health, mental
health, victim advocacy,
legal assistance, visa and
immigration assistance,
student nancial aid, and
other services available
for victims, both within
the institution and in the
community
Statement that the
institution will provide
written notication to
victims about options for,
available assistance in, and
how to request changes to:
• Academic situations
• Living situations
Site Practice
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Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
Written Notication
Statement that the institution will provide written notication to victims about options for,
available assistance in, and how to request changes to:
• Transportation situations
• Working situations
• Protective measures
Accommodations or protective
measures are provided if the
victim requests them and if
they are reasonably available,
regardless of whether the
victim chooses to report the
crime to campus police or
local law enforcement
An explanation of
procedures for institutional
disciplinary action in cases
of alleged dating violence,
domestic violence, sexual
assault, or stalking
A statement that, when a
student or employee reports
to the institution that the
student or employee has been
a victim of dating violence,
domestic violence, sexual
assault, or stalking, whether
the oense occurred on or
o-campus, the institution
will provide the student
or employee a written
explanation of the student’s or
employee’s rights and options
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Annual Security Report Policy Statements
Requirement Site Practice
The institution’s annual security report should have specic policy statements that capture the
elements within each category listed below. As a reminder, this checklist only addresses the
VAWA Amendments to Clery - not the Clery Act in its entirety.
Action Steps
Programs to Prevent Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, & Stalking
See below for specic descriptions and denitions for “awareness programs,” “bystander intervention,”
“ongoing prevention and awareness campaigns,” “primary prevention programs,” and “risk reduction.”
A description of the institution’s educational programs and campaigns to promote the awareness
of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, that includes:
• A statement that the
institution prohibits the
crimes of dating violence,
domestic violence, sexual
assault, and stalking
• The denitions of these
terms and of consent,
in reference to sexual
activity, in the applicable
jurisdiction
• A description of safe
and positive options for
bystander intervention
• Information on risk
reduction
A description of the institu-
tion’s ongoing prevention and
awareness campaigns for
students and employees
While this document contains a discussion of general legal principles and specic laws, it is neither intended
to be given as legal advice nor as the practice of the law, and should not be relied upon as such. Before taking
any action, always check with a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction to ensure compliance with the law.
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1. Sexual Assault: An oense that meets the denition of rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape as
used in the FBI’s UCR program.
2. Sex Oenses: 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.
• Fondling – The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of
sexual gratication, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim
is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or
permanent mental incapacity.
• Incest – Sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees
wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
• Statutory Rape – Sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
3. Domestic Violence: A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed
• By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
• By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
• By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the victim as a spouse or
intimate partner;
• 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;
• 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.
4. 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.
• 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.
• For the purposes of this denition, dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or
physical abuse or the threat of such abuse.
• Dating violence does not include acts covered under the denition of domestic violence.
• Any incident meeting this denition is considered a crime for the purposes of Clery Act reporting.
5. Stalking: Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specic person that would cause a
reasonable person to
• Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or
• Suer substantial emotional distress.
For the purposes of this denition:
• 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.
• Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar
identities to the victim.
• Substantial emotional distress means signicant mental suering or anguish that may, but
does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.
• Any incident meeting this denition is considered a crime for the purposes of Clery Act reporting.
Definitions & Terms:
VAWA Amendments to Clery
Definitions & Terms:
VAWA Amendments to Clery
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6. Programs to prevent dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking:
Comprehensive, intentional, and integrated programming, initiatives, strategies, and campaigns
intended to end dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking that:
• Are culturally relevant, inclusive of diverse communities and identities, sustainable,
responsive to community needs, and informed by research or assessed for value,
eectiveness, or outcome; and
• Consider environmental risk and protective factors as they occur on the individual,
relationship, institutional, community, and societal levels
Programs to prevent dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking include both
primary prevention and awareness programs directed at incoming students and new employees
and ongoing prevention and awareness campaigns directed at students and employees.
7. Awareness programs: Community-wide or audience specic programming, initiatives, and
strategies that increase audience knowledge and share information and resources to prevent
violence, promote safety, and reduce perpetration.
8. Bystander intervention: Safe and positive options that may be carried out by an individual
or individuals to prevent harm or intervene when there is a risk of dating violence, domestic
violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
Bystander intervention includes:
• Recognizing situations of potential harm
• Understanding institutional structures and cultural conditions that facilitate violence,
overcoming barriers to intervening, identifying safe and eective intervention options, and
taking actions to intervene
9. Ongoing prevention and awareness campaigns: Programming, initiatives, and strategies that
are sustained over time and focus on increasing understanding of topics relevant to and skills
for addressing dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, using a range of
strategies with audiences throughout the institution.
10. Primary prevention programs: Programming, initiatives, and strategies informed by research or
assessed for value, eectiveness, or outcome that are intended to stop dating violence, domestic
violence, sexual assault, and stalking before they occur through the promotion of positive and
healthy behaviors that foster healthy, mutually respectful relationships and sexuality, encourage safe
bystander intervention, and seek to change behavior and social norms in healthy and safe directions.
11. Risk reduction: Options designed to decrease perpetration and bystander inaction, and to
increase empowerment for victims in order to promote safety and to help individuals and
communities address conditions that facilitate violence.
12. Prompt, fair, and impartial proceeding: A proceeding that is completed within reasonably
prompt timeframes designated by an institution’s policy, including a process that allows for the
extension of timeframes for good cause and with written notice to the accuser and the accused of
the delay and the reason for the delay;
Conducted in a manner that:
• Is consistent with the institution’s policies and transparent to the accuser and accused;
• Includes timely notice of meetings at which the accuser or accused, or both, may be present; and
• Provides timely and equal access to the accuser, the accused, and appropriate ocials to any
information that will be used during informal and formal disciplinary meetings and hearings; and
• Conducted by ocials who do not have a conict of interest or bias for or against the accuser
or the accused.
13. Advisor: Any individual who provides the accuser or accused support, guidance, or advice.
14. Proceeding: All activities related to a non-criminal resolution of an institutional disciplinary
complaint, including, but not limited to, fact nding investigations, formal or informal
meetings, and hearings.
Proceeding does not include communications and meetings between ocials and victims
concerning accommodations or protective measures to be provided to a victim.
15. Result: Any initial, interim, and nal decision by any ocial or entity authorized to resolve
disciplinary matters within the institution.
The result must include any sanctions imposed by the institution.
16. Unfounded Crimes: An institution may withhold, or subsequently remove, a reported crime
from its crime statistics in the rare situations where sworn or commissioned law enforcement
personnel have fully investigated the reported crime and, based on the results of this full
investigation and evidence, have made a formal determination that the crime report is false or
baseless and therefore “unfounded.” Only sworn or commissioned law enforcement personnel
may “unfound” a crime report for purposes of reporting under this section. The recovery of
stolen property, the low value of stolen property, the refusal of the victim to cooperate with the
prosecution, and the failure to make an arrest do not “unfound” a crime report.
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Definitions & Terms:
VAWA Amendments to Clery
