Response to the preliminary Clery Audit report, Jan. 30, 2019
On Feb. 19, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education formally initiated an evaluation of Michigan State University’s compliance with the Clery Act. The department provided MSU with a preliminary report of their findings to MSU on Dec. 14, 2018.
We appreciate the expertise and efforts of the Department of Education investigators. The university is committed to cooperating with the department and is carefully reviewing the preliminary findings. Our staff will continue to focus on making improvements to ensure accurate and transparent reporting on campus crime policy and statistics. It is our goal to be in full compliance with Clery Act requirements, which is one of the many ways we are working to strengthen campus safety.
As an example of MSU’s commitment to campus safety and the Clery Act, our staff has made several proactive improvements to our Clery Act compliance efforts:
- Enhanced Clery Act training to ensure Campus Security Authorities are accurately identified and properly trained.
- Joined the Big Ten Clery Coordinators group to share best practices with other university practitioners.
- Strengthened and expanded the Clery Compliance Committee, the Clery Compliance Steering Committee and the Title IX Coordinated Response Team to enhance coordination and response to reports of crime across the university and to improve policies and procedures.
“The safety and well-being of our campus community is our top priority,” said MSU Acting President Satish Udpa. “The Nassar crimes caused so much pain to so many people, and we have more work to do to address those issues and support the survivors and our community. We welcome the opportunity to work with experts to review and strengthen areas as we renew our commitment to improve.”
The report sent to MSU is preliminary. MSU is working on a written response to the Department of Education. The department will consider MSU’s response before issuing their final determination. Due to the complexities of the review, this process could take several months to complete.
-Emily Guerrant, MSU Spokesperson