Memorandum

TO: Students, Faculty, and Staff
FROM: Mr. Stephen Shivone, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs
DATE: September 26, 2024
RE: Campus Security and Fire Safety Report, New England Campus

 

In October of 1990 the U.S. Congress enacted a law, now known as the Clery Act, that requires all institutions of higher education that participate in aid programs such as the Stafford Student Loan Program or Pell Grant Program, to collect information with respect to campus crime statistics and campus security policies and to disclose this information to all current students and employees.

To comply with this law, the College has collected the required information and has posted it on the College’s website. The Campus Security and Fire Safety Report can be viewed online, or a hard copy of the report can be obtained from Andrea McCann, Assistant to the Dean.

This report includes institutional policies concerning crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, alcohol and illegal drug use, evacuation procedures, fire safety, and missing student procedures, as well as campus crime and fire statistics for the previous three years.

In addition, you are encouraged to read the following overview of campus safety and security. If you have further questions, please contact the Assistant Dean at 413-846-1164.

 

OVERVIEW OF CAMPUS SAFETY AND SECURITY, NEW ENGLAND CAMPUS

 

REPORTING SECURITY PROBLEMS AND EMERGENCIES

Students, faculty, and staff should report criminal actions or other emergencies to Campus Security (413-834-2866), a Prefect, a Resident Director (Margaret Duffy, 978-418-3550; or Jonahs Chavez, 559-417-9215), or the Assistant Dean. Criminal actions are then normally reported to and handled by the Northfield Police Department. In the event of a student medical emergency, a Prefect or Resident Director will take the student to an Urgent Care clinic in Greenfield or Brattleboro, or to the emergency room at the Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. In emergencies requiring more immediate attention, the Northfield Police and Fire Departments are contacted by dialing 911. The fire procedure is found on page 37 of the Student Handbook. If you notice that a student has gone missing, you should report this to a Prefect, a Resident Director, or the Assistant Dean. Crime victims or witnesses are encouraged to report incidents voluntarily to a Prefect, a Resident Director, or the Assistant Dean for inclusion in the annual statistical report. All such incidents are kept confidential. 

EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND EVACUATION PROCEDURES

The Dean and Assistant Dean will order an evacuation if advised to do so by a civil authority. In some campus emergencies they may issue a “shelter-in-place” order. In either case, students will receive an emergency alert on their cell phones.* Designated staff members will communicate the alert to campus buildings where students are not permitted to have cell phones. In the case of an evacuation order, the alert will include an assembly area. Once everyone has assembled, a school official will communicate the nature of the emergency, the evacuation center, and other necessary instructions. Students that are off campus at the time of an evacuation should contact a Prefect from their residence hall to check in and receive further instructions. They should not return to campus unless explicitly instructed to do so. After assembling, students may be instructed to return to their residence halls to gather essential items (e.g., car keys, driver’s license, sleeping bag, and pillow), but priority should be given to evacuating persons rather than taking personal property. No vehicle should depart until each seat is filled and it has been checked by a Prefect/Resident Director. The priority is the safety of the students.

*The College has a safety alert system which is intended for use only in the rare occurrence of a danger to the community as a whole that requires immediate action. In such an event this system will be used to send out a mass text message to help spread the safety alert as quickly as possible among the on-campus community. Students will be automatically enrolled in the safety alert system using the cell phone number they provided during registration.

SECURITY AND CAMPUS LAW ENFORCEMENT

The Prefects, Resident Directors, and the Assistant Dean enforce the rules of residence. Violations of local, state, or federal laws are reported to the appropriate authorities. Even though the College does not have any off-campus student organizations, we expect our students to obey the civil law both on and off campus. Security personnel on campus have the authority to detain individuals while criminal actions are being reported to the police department. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to report crimes promptly. When appropriate, the College’s Chaplains, Resident Directors, Counselor, and Health Care Coordinator are encouraged to notify persons of the procedure for confidentially reporting a crime for inclusion in the annual statistical report.

ALCOHOL AND DRUG POLICY

At some social functions, the College will serve alcohol to students who are of legal age; this service is overseen by the Assistant Dean. Outside of these functions, the possession or use of alcohol by students is strictly forbidden on campus and may entail expulsion from the program. The possession or use by students of marijuana, even for medical purposes, or of any illegal drugs is strictly forbidden both on and off campus and may entail expulsion. The College also reserves the right to dismiss a student from the program for any serious incident or any repeated incident of an intoxicated or drugged state of behavior on or off campus, for behavior creating a safety hazard to other persons, or for behavior that seriously impedes the legitimate activities of the College community. For students, any alcohol purchased as a gift, received as a gift, or intended for the off-campus use of those of legal age must be stored by a Prefect. The College strongly disapproves of off-campus use of alcohol by those under legal age because it violates the civil law and harms the College’s reputation. Infractions of this alcohol and drug policy may be brought to the attention of a student’s parent(s) or guardian. Additional information regarding drug and alcohol abuse prevention may be found in the College’s annual Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Memorandum.

REPORTING SEXUAL CRIMES

An incident of sexual assault should be immediately reported to a Resident Director, the Assistant Dean, the Student Support Coordinator, or the Title IX Coordinator (John Quincy Masteller, 805-421-5930). It is important for victims to seek immediate medical attention for their own safety and to collect and preserve any evidence of a sexual crime. The College will aid the victim in notifying local law enforcement officials (Northfield Police Department) if the victim desires to do so. The victim is not required to notify them. The College will take all necessary measures to protect the privacy of the victim and all individuals involved, including the accused, witnesses, and investigating officials of the College. All individuals involved in the investigation and evaluation of complaints shall similarly treat all information they learn as confidential and shall not disclose any such confidential information in order to protect the privacy of all individuals involved in the process. The College will take such steps as it is reasonably able to do to assist the victim in the aftermath of such an incident, including help with counseling, change of living situation, etc. For more information on the College’s policies on reporting sexual crimes, please see pages 47-50 of the Student Handbook. The College’s Chaplains, Resident Directors, and Counselor are available for counseling the victim and the respondent. If a victim or respondent would like to seek off-campus counseling, catholictherapists.com may be a helpful resource. Victim advocacy and other services for Franklin County can be found at nelcwit.org.