Like many institutions, you may be wondering how the emergency notifications requirements in Clery apply to the current pandemic when you may have confirmation that an individual(s) in your campus community has tested positive for COVID-19. To help everyone with this particular dilemma, the U.S. Department of Education recently released guidance clarifying this requirement under § 668.46 of the Clery Act.

“The Department does not interpret the statutory language as requiring institutions to give regular, on-going updates on COVID-19 or to proactively identify positive COVID-19 cases within the campus community. The Department also does not interpret the statutory language to apply to positive COVID-19 cases among individuals who are not attending classes, working, or residing on campus or to require notifications to such individuals.”

“An institution may satisfy the emergency notification requirements of the Clery Act and § 668.46 as follows: (1) provide students and employees a single notification through the regular means of communicating emergency notifications informing them about COVID-19 and necessary health and safety precautions, as well as encouraging them to obtain information from health care providers, state health authorities, and the CDC’s COVID-19 website; or (2) create a banner at the top of the institution’s homepage containing that same information, including a statement about the global pandemic and a link to the CDC’s website.”

Read more from the Department of Education here, https://ifap.ed.gov/electronic-announcements/040320UPDATEDGuidanceInterruptStudyRelCOVID19

We are happy to help you with how your own policies and processes may require you to provide notification consistent with these guidelines.
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