Audit of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Overview of Audited Entity

This section describes the makeup and responsibilities of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Overview

The Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) was originally founded as the Massachusetts Nautical Training School under Section 1 of Chapter 402 of the Acts of 1891. MMA is a fully accredited four-year coeducational public state university and the second oldest maritime academy in the country.

According to its website,

The mission of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy is to provide a quality education for graduates serving in the merchant marine, the military services, and those who serve the interests of the Commonwealth, Nation and global marketplace. The Academy does so by combining a rigorous academic program with a regimented lifestyle that instills honor, responsibility, discipline, and leadership.

MMA operates under the oversight of the state’s Board of Higher Education and is governed by a board of trustees with 11 members (9 appointed by the Governor, 1 appointed by MMA’s alumni body, and 1 appointed by the student body). MMA offers undergraduate degrees and programs in energy systems engineering; facilities engineering; marine engineering; emergency management; marine science, safety, and environmental protection; international maritime business; and marine transportation, as well as graduate degrees in facilities management, emergency management, and maritime business management. MMA is located at 101 Academy Drive in Buzzards Bay.

MMA had 1,802 students in fall 2018 and 1,792 in fall 2019. During fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020, MMA’s operating budgets were $55,694,979, $56,342,349, and $57,614,588, respectively.

MMA participates in federal student financial aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) and therefore must comply with the requirements of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), described below. During the 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 school years, MMA students received the following financial aid from various federal student financial aid programs under the HEA.

MMA Student Financial Aid Funding

Academic Year	Pell Grant	Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant	Federal Work Study	Direct Loans	Total Federal Student Aid
2018–2019	$1,238,673	$59,699	$113,134	$10,302,345	$11,713,851
2019–2020	$1,182,832	$59,699	$113,134	$10,258,916	$11,614,581

The Clery Act

The Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, within Section 485(f) of the HEA, was renamed the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act in 1998. The Clery Act was codified as Section 1092(f) of Title 20 of the United States Code and is reflected in Section 668.46 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. It is a federal consumer protection statute that provides current and prospective students and employees of institutions of higher education, as well as the general public, with important information about public safety on campuses of institutions of higher education.

According to No. 202 of Volume 79 of the Federal Register,

The Clery Act requires institutions of higher education to comply with certain campus safety- and security-related requirements as a condition of their participation in the title IV, HEA programs.

Under the Clery Act, institutions that are subject to the act must do the following:

• collect, classify, and count reports and statistics on crimes that occur within their geography
• issue campus alerts of ongoing or immediate threats to the health or safety of students or employees
• publish an annual security report (ASR) and make it available to students, employees, and others via mail, email, or the Internet
• disclose procedures for notifications when students are missing
• disclose procedures for institutional disciplinary actions
• provide training programs to students and employees to increase their understanding of, and skills for, addressing topics such as dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking
• have programs designed to educate students and employees about alcohol abuse, drug abuse, campus security, and crime prevention
• maintain a daily crime log
• publish an annual fire safety report and disclose fire safety information (if they maintain on-campus housing)
• submit crime and fire statistics to the United States Department of Education (US ED) annually, if applicable.

Effective July 1, 2015, the Clery Act was amended to implement changes made by the Violence against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. These changes required institutions to compile statistics for incidents of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and to include certain policies, procedures, and programs related to these incidents in their ASRs.

US ED monitors institutions of higher education’s compliance with the Clery Act by conducting compliance reviews and audits, which may result in fines for violations.

Daily Crime Log

The Clery Act requires each institution of higher education that has a campus police department or security office, such as MMA, to maintain a daily crime log. This log must be available for public inspection and include the types, dates, times, and general locations of all incidents that occur within an institution’s geography. Such incidents include Clery Act crimes, i.e., specific types of crime required by the Clery Act to be included in an institution’s daily crime log. These fall into four categories: (1) criminal offenses, such as murder, rape, statutory rape, robbery, and arson; (2) arrests and disciplinary action referrals for liquor law violations, drug law violations, and illegal weapon possession; (3) hate crimes, such as intimidation and simple assault motivated by bias; and (4) Violence Against Women Act offenses, which include domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

The daily crime log must also document where in the institution’s geography these incidents took place using the following categories:

1. on campus²—in or on contiguous buildings or property that are owned or controlled by the institution
2. non-campus—buildings or properties that are not contiguous to on-campus property and are owned or controlled by either the institution or a student organization recognized by the institution
3. public property—property that is contiguous or adjacent to buildings or property within the institution’s geography (e.g., sidewalks, streets, thoroughfares, parking facilities).

Incidents within an institution’s geography are reported to the institution’s campus police department or security office, a state or local law enforcement agency, or another campus security authority (CSA). No. 202 of Volume 79 of the Federal Register defines a CSA as “an official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline, and campus judicial proceedings” to whom students and employees should report criminal offenses. According to Chapter 4 of US ED’s 2016 edition of the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting,

Examples of individuals (outside of a police or security department) who generally meet the criteria for being campus security authorities include

• a dean of students who oversees student housing, a student center or student extracurricular activities;
• a director of athletics, all athletic coaches (including part-time employees and graduate assistants);
• a faculty advisor to a student group;
• a student resident advisor or assistant;
• a student who monitors access to dormitories or buildings that are owned by recognized student organizations;
• a coordinator of Greek affairs;
• a . . . coordinator [of activities subject to Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972];
• an ombudsperson (including student ombudspersons);
• the director of a campus health or counseling center;
• victim advocates or others who are responsible for providing victims with advocacy services.

According to the Clery Act, institutions are responsible for ensuring that all incidents reported to CSAs are recorded in the daily crime log within two business days after they are reported.

ASRs

The Clery Act requires all institutions of higher education that participate in federal student financial aid programs under Title IV of the HEA to prepare, publish, and distribute ASRs. ASRs must disclose statistics about Clery Act crimes that have taken place within an institution’s geography, as well as the specific policies and procedures the institution has implemented for campus safety and crime prevention. Institutions must make the ASR public and disseminate it to all students and employees by October 1 each year. Examples of the information that must be disclosed in an ASR include the following:

• Clery Act crime statistics, as documented in the institution’s daily crime log, for the most recent and two preceding calendar years
• policies regarding state laws related to alcoholic beverages and underage drinking
• policies regarding illegal drugs and applicable federal and state drug laws
• descriptions of programs related to substance abuse
• descriptions of programs to prevent dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, as well as the procedures institutions will follow when such incidents are reported
• information regarding sex offenders
• descriptions of emergency response and evacuation procedures
• policies regarding issuing notifications about missing students
• policies regarding procedures for reporting criminal actions or other emergencies on campus
• policies for security of, and access to, campus facilities
• policies related to the enforcement authority of security personnel, the working relationship of campus security personnel with state and local police agencies, and accurate and prompt reporting of incidents
• descriptions of related to campus security procedures and practices
• descriptions of programs related to crime prevention.

Crime Reporting

Public safety concerns (e.g., allegations of criminal activity) that occur within MMA’s geography, depending on their nature, are reported to either MMA’s Public Safety Office (PSO) or its Student Services Office (SSO).³

Any MMA student, employee, or visitor can report an alleged incident, suspicious activity, or emergency by contacting PSO in person or by phone. Upon notification, a PSO staff member creates a record of the report in TriTech, the software application that PSO uses to record and track public safety concerns. The record includes a reference number, the date, the time, the reason for the report, and the general location of the alleged incident. PSO then assigns a public safety officer to investigate the alleged incident. Throughout the investigation, the public safety officer records details of the investigation in TriTech. According to MMA officials, the TriTech daily crime log is the official record of all incidents that take place within MMA’s geography.

When an MMA student or employee alleges an offense by another MMA student or employee, the alleged offense must be reported “as soon as possible” to MMA’s vice president of student services, according to MMA’s Regimental Manual. The vice president of student services is responsible for determining the lead department (PSO, SSO, or the Human Resources Department) to investigate the alleged offense based on its severity, in accordance with MMA’s investigative process. The vice president of student services is also responsible for informing the three potential lead departments of allegations within 24 hours, regardless of whether the vice president of student services has identified a lead department yet.

SSO staff members use established guidelines to review, investigate, and classify alleged offenses reported to SSO. Based on the results of the investigation, if an alleged offense is found to be valid, SSO classifies it as a Class I, Class II, or Class III offense:

1. Class I, the most serious class, includes sexual assaults, hate crimes, unauthorized possession and/or use of drugs, and unauthorized use and/or maintenance of weapons.
2. Class II includes unauthorized alcohol possession, alcohol use, and alcohol intoxication.
3. Class III includes violations of MMA policies regarding things like student appearance, dormitory condition, and not following oral or written orders or instructions from supervisors.

As part of the disciplinary process, MMA’s disciplinary boards⁴ hold hearings to discuss each offense. Each board may recommend sanctions to MMA’s president for an individual who committed an offense, based on the disciplinary standards established by MMA’s Regimental Manual. The president is responsible for imposing the sanctions. SSO records Class I offenses manually in paper files, which SSO maintains. It maintains Class II and III offenses electronically as disciplinary action records in Colleague, MMA’s administrative software system.

Once a year, PSO requests from SSO information on any offenses that are within the definition of Clery Act crimes and uses this information and the information in TriTech to compile MMA’s ASR.

2.    The United States Training Ship Kennedy, MMA’s ship used for Sea Term (a six-week hands-on voyage for students enrolled in marine engineering and marine transportation), is considered an on-campus location while docked at MMA and a non-campus location while at sea.

3.    Incidents that occur on the United States Training Ship Kennedy, whether at sea or in port, are reported to SSO.

4.    There are disciplinary boards for each class of offense. For example, for Class I offenses, the board is composed of the academic dean, the vice president of enrollment services (or a designee thereof), the registrar (or a designee thereof), the department chair for the accused cadet’s major (or a designee thereof), a regimental commander or any other regimental officer (or a designee thereof), and the student government association president or any other regimental officer (or a designee thereof).

Date published:	March 3, 2022