CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Clarion University President Karen M. Whitney, Ph.D. released the following statement in response to an audit of Clarion University by Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
“Clarion has always worked hard to ensure a safe place for our students, faculty, staff and visitors of all ages. The Auditor General recognized this in his report to us, stating,
“We are pleased that Clarion University management agrees with our recommendations and that management has already taken or is in the process of taking action to implement them. In addition, we are very glad to learn that Clarion is taking appropriate steps to ensure that any of the recently enacted changes to the Child Protective Services Law that may impact on state-owned universities, effective December 31, 2014, including Act 153 of 2014, are fully complied with for all future audit periods.”
“It is also important to note the report goes on to say that the university was in compliance with applicable laws at the time of the audit.
“The university is required to comply with the provisions of Act 153. In order to comply with the act, all university employees will be required to have clearances from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI. All current employees, including student workers, will have completed clearances by December 31, 2015. Individuals hired since January 1, 2015 have been required to apply for the clearances and provide evidence of the same prior to starting employment and have the actual clearances on file within 90 days of employment.
“In addition, the University is developing a Protection of Minors Policy as required under the State System of Higher Education Board of Governors Protections of Minors Policy. That policy will include instituting procedures that will require the registration of all programs involving minors that occur on campus and all university-sponsored programs that occur off campus. The policy also describes the requirements such as training, staffing ratios, a code of conduct, background clearances, and mandated reporting required of administrators, faculty, coaches, staff, student, independent contractors and volunteers who interact with minors.”
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education spokesman, Kenn Marshall, added:
“The State System of Higher Education and its member universities have made the health, safety and welfare of students, employees and all campus visitors—especially minors—a top priority. The System and the universities not only have complied with existing laws, but have been proactive in this area for years—routinely going beyond the legal requirements:
o Last year—in advance of new state law—the State System’s Board of Governors adopted a comprehensive policy to help ensure the protection of minors on all of our campuses. The policy combined practices that in many cases had been in place for years with new measures designed to ensure the safest possible environment for all children on campus. It contains provisions that were part of existing law, recently enacted and then-anticipated state laws intended to protect children from physical and sexual abuse. The policy applies not only to all State System employees and students, but also to outside contractors and volunteers involved with university-sponsored programs or who come onto campus to offer programs independent of the university, including summer camps.
o Last year, the State System joined with Stop it Now! of Northampton, Mass., to develop a first-of-its-kind program to train “Prevention Squads” to help prevent child sexual victimization on college campuses. Participants from all 14 State System campuses took part in the pilot program, which is now being touted as a training model for colleges and universities across the country.
o A new state law that took effect on January 1, 2015 requires all school employees, including those who work at colleges and universities, who regularly come into contact with minors to undergo background checks every three years. (Previously, the law applied only to those in K-12 schools.) The State System is being even more expansive, requiring all of its employees to undergo those checks, which comprise reviews by the Pennsylvania State Police, state Department of Human Services and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The statement was in response to an audit released yesterday by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale that urged the university to improve their efforts to complete criminal and child abuse background checks on all workers at youth summer athletic and academic camps on the university’s campus.
