Audit: University of Northern Iowa falls short in crime reporting, fire safety compliance

Systems are not in place on the University of Northern Iowa campus to ensure compliance with a 32-year-old federal act that governs higher education crime reporting and security mandates — leaving the Cedar Falls public university at risk of hundreds of thousands in fines and safety breaches, an internal audit shows.

“Non-compliance with the Clery Act can result in civil penalties up to $62,689 per violation, effective April 2022, as well as suspension in federal student financial aid programs,” according to the audit, scheduled Wednesday for the Iowa Board of Regents to consider while meeting at the University of Iowa.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, enacted in 1990, requires colleges and universities receiving federal financial aid to maintain and report information about crime that occurs on or near campus.

Compliance activities include the timely issuing of campuswide alerts in events of possible threats to students and staff. They also include identifying police, security and other administrators as “campus security authorities” and training them.

Internal auditors in February released a similarly critical audit of the UI’s Clery policies and practices, including timely warnings of threats, training and fire drills.

Helen Haire, who has directed UNI’s Department of Public Safety for a decade, also serves as UNI’s Clery compliance officer. Before her arrival, in 2010, the U.S. Department of Education conducted an external audit that uncovered violations “and fines were levied,” according to the new regent’s internal audit.

Although “significant process improvements have been made” in the years since, policies and practices around Clery compliance still lack at UNI, according to the audit, which reviewed the last two years beginning at the start of 2020.

Fire failures

“Fire drills are not performed for residence halls in accordance with (Annual Fire Safety Report) procedures and International Fire Code requirements, increasing the risk that students and staff may not effectively perform responsibilities in the event of a fire and evacuation,” according to the audit.

The International Fire Code — which colleges and universities must comply with, according to state law — requires four drills annually for each campus residential building, including at least one within 10 days of the start of classes.

The internal UNI audit found the campus has no process in place for the its Clery compliance officer to confirm drills have been performed according to the law; templates used to document fire drills don’t contain required information; and post-drill documentation isn’t consistently completed.

In UNI’s 2021 Clery report, provided to the regents in November, the campus documented the number of evacuation drills performed at its residential facilities in 2019 at between zero and two per facility, for a total of 18.

Auditors advised UNI to better communicate fire drill requirements to its staff to ensure they’re conducting enough drills and properly performing them. UNI management committed to making improvements by September — when a new crop of students will fill its residence halls.

“The university will increase the number of fire drills and ensure that fire drills are properly conducted in accordance with relevant laws,” according to the audit.

UNI also committed to doing a better job of making sure staff receive the mandatory fire safety training and of ensuring prospective students and employees are properly notified about the campus’ safety plans and crime statistics.

Crime stat shortcomings

The audit found UNI lacks detailed documentation of standard operating procedures for Clery compliance activities, “increasing the risk that tasks are not properly performed.” Additionally, campus security authorities — as defined by the law — aren’t properly identified, notified and trained.

UNI has no process for confirming threatening incidents are “properly considered” for a campuswide warning, “increasing the risk that the university community is not notified timely of possible threats.”

UNI in the last academic year issued four “timely warnings” to its campus about threatening incidents, spokesman Andrew Morse told The Gazette on Tuesday. But those incidents are not cataloged on the UNI website.

Although the Clery Act requires campuses to track and report crimes within a certain geographic region within two business days, UNI procedures focus on its own public safety department.

“Procedures should be documented and implemented to ensure incidents are displayed in the crime log within the required two business days for all incidents, including (campus security authorities), confidential services, and local law enforcement reports,” according to the audit.

The audit noted UNI created a 14-member “Clery committee” in 2013, but “there are no documented agendas or minutes from these meetings.”

“The committee does not have a charter, defined purpose, authority, responsibilities, or deliverables, resulting in the committee being unable to establish goals and areas of improvements for Clery compliance,” according to the audit, which recommended, “The university should determine if a Clery Committee is necessary.”

UNI committed to doing so by November and taking other measures by no later than May 2023.

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