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 Mary Block, Executive 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 students, 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 Mr. Travis Cooper, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, at 805-421-5975.
OVERVIEW OF CAMPUS SAFETY AND SECURITY, CALIFORNIA CAMPUS
REPORTING SECURITY PROBLEMS AND EMERGENCIES
Students, faculty, and staff should report criminal actions or other emergencies to a Prefect, the Resident Assistant (Greta VanDamme, 805-873-7206), the Assistant Dean, or the Human Resource Specialist (Patricia Hierro 805-421-5909). Criminal actions are then normally reported to and handled by the Ventura County Sheriff. In the event of a student medical emergency, either a Prefect or the Resident Assistant will take the student to the Urgent Care clinic in Santa Paula (open 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri), or to the emergency room at the Santa Paula Hospital. In emergencies requiring more immediate attention, the Ventura County Fire Department (approx. 3 miles from campus) is contacted by dialing 911. Fire, earthquake, and evacuation procedures are found on pages 36 – 37 of the Student Handbook. If you notice that a student has gone missing, you should report this to any Prefect, the Resident Assistant, or the Assistant Dean. Crime victims or witnesses are encouraged to report incidents voluntarily to a Prefect, the Resident Assistant, the Assistant Dean, or the Human Resource Specialist for inclusion in the annual statistical report. All such incidents are kept confidential.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND EVACUATION PROCEDURES
The Dean and the 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, if the Dean and the Assistant Dean order an evacuation, the chapel bells will ring for at least three minutes as a sign to assemble in St. Joseph Commons. Students may also receive an emergency alert on their cell phones.* Once everyone has assembled in the Commons, 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 dormitory to check in and receive further instructions. They should not return to campus unless explicitly instructed to do so. After meeting in the Commons, 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 at the front gate. The priority is the safety of the students. The buildings are equipped with fire sprinklers and are insured. They can be replaced if necessary. *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 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 Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to report crimes promptly. When appropriate, campus chaplains, Resident Assistant, school counselors (Greg Wood, MFT, Mrs. Nichole Sablan, LPCC, and Keoni Sablan, LMFT) and school nurse (Mrs. Cathy Collins) 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. The possession or use of alcohol outside of these functions is strictly forbidden on campus and normally entails expulsion from the program. The possession or use of marijuana, even for medical purposes, or of any illegal drugs is strictly forbidden for students 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 Prefect, the Assistant Dean, Resident Assistant, the Human Resource Specialist 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 (Ventura County Sheriff) 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 46-51 of the Student & Faculty Handbook. The College’s chaplains, Resident Assistant, and/or school counselors — Mr. Gregory Wood (805-816-7854), Mrs. Nichole Sablan, LPC (209-502-4673), and Keoni Sablan, LMFT (209-585-0395) — are available for counseling the victim and the respondent. If a victim or respondent would like to seek off-campus counseling, the College recommends Priscilla Batarse, MS, LMFT, CMHIMP, WHC, in Ventura, CA: 805-616-1450. Alternatively, catholictherapists.com may be a helpful resource. Victim advocacy, legal assistance, and other services can be found here.
WARNING CONCERNING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC
Be warned that walking, jogging, or running on Highway 150 is very dangerous because of the small amount of shoulder available for pedestrian traffic and the high rate of speed of vehicles which use this highway. Use of a bicycle should only be attempted by someone experienced with bicycling on a busy and narrow highway. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic should be avoided between dusk and dawn.
WARNING CONCERNING CRIMINAL OFFENSES ON AND NEAR CAMPUS
Be warned that violations of the law have occurred on local public access areas surrounding the campus, including trails and roadside parking adjacent to the campus. Most violations have involved vehicle burglaries in the roadside parking areas. Please exercise care and reasonable caution when walking on trails and roadways adjacent to the campus, as well as about campus. Since the campus is located at the head of a popular local hiking trail, thefts have occurred occasionally on campus. Students should exercise reasonable caution in this regard. You are advised not to keep valuables in your dorm room. If you do have items of value in your room, you should request a key to lock your room door. Room keys are available from the maintenance department. A $40.00 deposit is required and will be refunded when the key is returned. Room keys must be returned at the end of the school year. You are advised not to keep valuables in parked vehicles.