Consumer Information

Cleary/Campus Security Policy

Columbia Southern University (CSU) is committed to preventing workplace violence and to maintaining a safe working environment.  All employees, including supervisors and temporary employees, should be treated with courtesy and respect at all times.  Conduct that threatens, intimidates, or coerces another employee, a customer, or a member of the public at any time, including off-duty periods, will not be tolerated.  This prohibition includes all acts of harassment, including harassment that is based on an individual’s sex, race, age, or any characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

All threats of (or actual) violence, both direct and indirect, should be reported as soon as possible to your immediate supervisor or any other member of management.  This includes threats by employees, as well as threats by customers, vendors, solicitors, or other members of the public.  All suspicious individuals or activities should be reported as soon as possible to a supervisor.  CSU will promptly and thoroughly investigate all reports of threats of (or actual) violence and of suspicious individuals or activities.  Anyone determined to be responsible for threats of (or actual) violence or other conduct that is in violation of these guidelines will be subject to prompt disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment/reporting to local law enforcement authorities.

The university must publish and distribute the annual campus security report each year.  The report is distributed to students and staff and made available to prospective students and employees.  The statistics contained in the report must include the following:

  • Criminal homicide, including murder and non-negligent manslaughter and negligent manslaughter
  • Sex offenses including forcible sex offenses and non-forcible sex offenses
  •  Robbery
  • Aggravated assault
  • Burglary
  • Motor vehicle theft
  • Arson
  • Larsony - Theft
  • Simple Assault
  • Vandalism
  • Intimidation
  • By category of prejudice, crimes listed above and any other crime involving bodily injury reported to local law enforcement or to the campus that demonstrates evidence of prejudice based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability
  • Arrests for violations of liquor and drug law violations
  • Persons not arrested but referred for campus disciplinary action for liquor, drug, and weapons law violations

The Campus Security Authority personnel includes:

  • Orange Beach office – Director or Assistant Director of Human Resources
  • Gulf Shores office – Provost or Director of Military Programs, or in the case of harassment or discrimination should be reported directly to the Director of Human Resources
  • Online Campus – Dean of Students
  • Educational Fairs/Seminars – the senior staff person should report any crimes to the Director or Assistant Director of Human Resources

The Campus Security Authority previously mentioned will:

  • File a report with the local police department when there is a theft of company property that has some type of traceable identification, or if there has been a pattern of thefts.
  • Report homicide, rape, robbery, assault, illegal drugs and weapon possession to the local police department.

The CSU Crime Prevention program includes:

  • All guests (including contractors/facility maintenance) are requested to sign in at the receptionist desk to receive a visitor’s pass.  All guests will remain in the receptionist area until a CSU employee comes to escort them through the building.  Visitors should remain with the CSU employee or meeting area and escorted when leaving the building.
  • On occasion we will use video surveillance in the Gulf Shores location.
  • In addition to the Orange Beach and Gulf Shores locations being routinely patrolled by local police, CSU utilizes the services of Hunter Security monitoring service.

Crime Log
An employee crime log will be maintained by the Office of Human Resources.  The crime log will be maintained as follows:

  • Record by date when the crime was reported, the nature, date, time, and general location of each crime, and the disposition of the complaint, if known.
  • Allow inspection of the logs, except where prohibited by law or when disclosure would jeopardize the confidentiality of the victim or investigation of the case.
  • Disclose any information withheld once the adverse effect described is no longer likely to occur.
  • Have the crime log open to the public for inspection during normal business hours for the most recent 60 days.

Notice of Reporting and Disclosure of Campus Safety Policies and Annual Crime Statistics
All current students, faculty, and staff members will be provided a notice that contains a brief description of CSU Campus Safety Policies.  This notice may be distributed through printed or electronic publications.
Once the Campus Security Authority has received a notification of a crime on a CSU campus, the circumstances will be verified and recorded into the crime log.  Current data can also be circulated upon request daily, monthly, or annually.

Timely “Crime Alerts” to the Campus Community
The Campus Security Authority will post “crime alerts” advising the campus community when there has been a known systematic pattern of a crime or series of crimes that may pose a threat to the safety or welfare of the campus community.  These timely reports will be made available through electronic publications or will be otherwise posted in visible and accessible areas on the campus.

Given that CSU is an online university, the term “Campus Community” primarily refers to the faculty and staff.  There are occasions where a student may be visiting the campus or where there are guests on site.  These individuals will be warned verbally and given a print out of the submitted crime alert.

Maintenance on CSU Campuses
The Maintenance Engineer is responsible for overseeing repairs of the office facilities.  This includes, but is not limited to, defective doors and locking mechanisms.  All members of the campus community are encouraged to report any known problems or hazards to the Maintenance Engineer.  Quickly identifying and reporting any know problems or hazards enhances campus safety for everyone.

Reporting Criminal Activities
In emergency situations, first dial 9-1-1.  Then, file a report to the Campus Authority.
In non-emergency situations, report criminal offenses to the Campus Security Authority.
All students, faculty, and staff members of CSU are strongly encouraged to report any criminal activity that occurs within the university system to the Campus Security Authority.

Reportable Offenses
The following list of crimes is compiled in accordance with the definitions used in the Uniform Crime Reporting System of the Department of Justice, FBI, as modified by the Hate Crime Statistics Act.

  • Criminal homicide including murder and non-negligent manslaughter and negligent manslaughter
  • Forcible and non-forcible sex offenses
  • Robbery
  • Theft
  • Aggravated assault
  • Burglary
  • Motor vehicle theft
  • Arson
  • Hate crimes
  • Arrests for drug law violations and illegal weapons possession
  • Persons not arrested but referred for campus disciplinary action for liquor, drug and weapons law violations

Additional reportable offenses include:

  • Attempted motor vehicle theft
  • Vandalism

Monitoring Student Criminal Activity Off-Campus

Given that CSU is an online university, student criminal activity is not monitored.

Drug and Alcohol Prevention Policy

Columbia Southern University (CSU) is committed to providing a drug-free, healthful, and safe workplace. Alcohol and other drug abuse is a significant public health problem and has a detrimental effect on the community in terms of increased medical and workers compensation claims, medical disability costs, decreased productivity, injuries, theft and absenteeism. Accordingly, CSU has the right and obligation to maintain a safe, healthy and productive working and learning environment and to protect CSU property, operations and reputation.

Students, faculty and staff must comply with the federal, state, and local laws concerning alcohol and illegal drug usage, whether on University property or otherwise. Violations will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement officials. Individual(s) will be subject to university disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion or separation, pursuant to CSU policies and procedures.

Resources
Because our virtual campus does not enable us to provide onsite counseling or treatment, we provide the following information as a resource for those who need assistance with avoiding or recovering from alcohol or drug abuse. We encourage any student, staff or faculty member who needs information related to alcohol or drug abuse to use directory information, online searches, the telephone book, or referrals from friends and/or professionals. At a national level there are also organizations dedicated to providing information and suggestions:

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) - An agency of the US Department of Health & Human Services providing information online regarding alcohol, drugs, and treatment programs.

General Address: www.samhsa.gov
Specific Address for Treatment Programs: findtreatment.samhsa.gov
1-800-729-6686

The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information – Part of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & SAMSHA’s Clearinghouse
http://www.health.org/
1-(800) 729-6686

About.com Substance Abuse - Explore the complicated disease of addiction. Information on basic questions concerning drugs and addiction.

http://search.about.com/fullsearch.htm?terms=substance%20abuse

National Institute on Drug Abuse

General Link/Address: www.nida.nih.gov
Specific Link/Address on Club Drugs: www.clubdrugs.org
1-310-443-1124

Alcoholics Anonymous
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org

Narcotics Anonymous

www.na.org
www.24houraddictionnhelp.com

Local Resources for Staff/Faculty
Baldwin County Mental Health Center 1-800-738-2871
Licensed Counselors listed in the Yellow Pages – Gulf Telephone Book

Posters found on CSU Bulletin Boards

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) affords a student certain rights with respect to their educational records. CSU acknowledges this law as university policy.

For more information, view the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act page here.

Graduation Rates

The information below is provided in accordance with the federal Student Right-to-Know Act. This cohort sample includes all students enrolled in an undergraduate bachelor degree program in the academic year identified. The sample is not limited to only first time, fulltime students because limiting the sample to that group would result in too small of a sample. CSU students are mostly adults that transfer credit from other institutions and take courses at a half-time rate. Students who enrolled but completed < 6 hours are considered non-starts and are not included in the sample.

Cohort Group    
Total Students in Sample
Total Graduated in Sample
Percentage Graduated
09/01/01 – 08/31/02
711
363
51%

Crime Statement

Any institution participating in Title IV must comply with the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, also referred to as the Clery Act. The Campus Crime Statistics Report has to be submitted to the Department of Education by October 1st of each year. This report will also be made available to all students and employees of Columbia Southern University. The report will include three years of crime statistics that occurred on campus, in certain off-campus buildings, or property owned or controlled by the university, and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible to the campus.

Columbia Southern University has not been required to file this report in the past. Now that Columbia Southern University is approved to participate in Title IV, the report and notification will be posted by October 1st.

 


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