S. 2990 — Campus Accountability and Safety Act

This section amends the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act)—which requires institutions of higher education participating in federal student aid programs to publish annual campus security reports detailing crime statistics, policies, and procedures—to make the following changes to report content and preparation: (1) requires crime statistics and related information to be published in an easily accessible manner, available in different languages, and prominently displayed on the institution's website; (2) revises disclosure requirements for relationships with law enforcement agencies; (3) expands the list of reportable sex offenses to explicitly include rape, fondling, incest, and statutory rape; (4) requires, beginning one year after enactment and annually thereafter, additional statistics on rape and fondling incidents where the respondent is a student—including reports to the title IX coordinator, disciplinary actions, findings of responsibility, sanctions (without identifying individuals), and proceedings closed due to respondent withdrawal—and directs the Secretary of Education to provide technical assistance; (5) adds definitions of "complainant," "respondent," "title IX coordinator," and "higher education responsible employee"; (6) replaces rules for compiling crime statistics to prohibit identification of complainants or respondents and to conform to specified definitions from the Violence Against Women Act, federal regulations, the National Incident-Based Reporting System, and the Uniform Crime Reporting Program; and (7) makes conforming and technical changes.

This section amends the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 U.S.C. 1092(f))—which requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) participating in federal student aid programs to disclose campus crime statistics, security policies, and related information—to require the Secretary of Education to establish and maintain a publicly available, searchable, accessible, and user-friendly campus safety website. The website must include (1) for each funded IHE, a brief description of the Title IX coordinator's role and roles of other officials for discussing or reporting sexual harassment; (2) for each funded IHE, a brief description of the sexual and interpersonal violence specialist's role, name, and contact information; (3) the Department's pending investigations, enforcement actions, letters of finding, final resolutions, and voluntary resolution agreements for media audits, complaints, and compliance reviews under the Clery Act and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681) related to sexual harassment (made available after initial evaluation to open an investigation, without personally identifiable information and in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act); (4) downloadable data reported by IHEs under the Clery Act; (5) information on filing complaints with the Department for alleged Clery Act or Title IX violations; and (6) the Department's policies for reviewing complaints, initiating compliance reviews, and resolving investigations (including contact information for inquiries, potential outcomes, and expected resolution timeframes and exceptions).

This section amends the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 U.S.C. 1092(f))—which requires institutions of higher education participating in federal student aid programs to disclose campus security policies and crime statistics—by adding a new paragraph (21). The new paragraph defines "victim-centered, trauma-informed interview techniques" and requires each such institution to establish a campus security policy that includes the following: (1) designation of one or more sexual and interpersonal violence specialists, who meet specified qualifications (e.g., not undergraduate or full-time graduate students, responsible employees, campus security authorities, or Title IX coordinators; supervised outside the institution's investigation/adjudication body; experienced in trauma-informed services), complete required training (including online materials developed by the Secretary of Education within one year of enactment), and are not mandatory reporters under the Clery Act, to receive anonymous or confidential reports from student complainants of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or stalking; (2) Secretary-designated categories of eligible employees (e.g., health care staff, clergy, women's center staff) and conditions for victim advocate privilege training; and (3) provision by specialists to complainants, in a victim-centered, trauma-informed manner (including written format), of their rights under federal/state law; reporting options (e.g., to responsible employees or law enforcement); descriptions of institutional disciplinary and criminal justice processes (including sanctions and that they are not substitutes); confidentiality limitations; local resources (e.g., rape crisis centers); and risks of re-traumatization.

This section expands the scope of grants to institutions of higher education to combat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campuses—commonly known as VAWA campus grants—by inserting "sexual harassment" after "sexual assault" (or, in one instance, after "sexual violence") throughout the provision, including in the grant authorization and purposes (subsection (a)(1)); 12 permissible uses of grant funds (subsection (b)); reporting requirements (subsection (c)(2)(B)); and grant conditions (subsection (d)(3)). (Thus, institutions may use grants for security, investigations, victim services, prevention education, policies, and training related to sexual harassment as well.)

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the effectiveness and efficiency of grants to institutions of higher education to combat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and stalking on campuses (under 34 U.S.C. 20125) and to submit a report on the study to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce not later than two years after the date of enactment.