The U.S. Department of Education (DOE)  recently released finalized rules of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). Is your campus ready?

HEOA’s new regulations require college and university officials to:

• maintain an accurate fire log
• report fire incident stats to the U.S. DOE
• establish a ‘missing student’ notification policy
• develop confidential reporting methods for on-campus students
• circulate an annual report for campus fire safety, and
• include a statement of emergency response and evacuation plans in the annual report.

While colleges are required to publish crisis plans, school officials should take caution that the wording doesn’t spell out operational procedures, advises Daniel Carter, Security on Campus’ director of public policy. He maintains that too many details “would threaten safety.”

The Center for Campus Fire Safety (CCFS) has released a free tracking tool that fulfills educational institutions fire log requirements, under the new regulations.

How is your school planning to comply with the new regulations? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tags: Center for Campus Fire Safety, Department of Education, Higher Education Opportunity Act