Minors on Campus Policy

Section: Safety, Health & Environmental Services
Responsible Office(s): Human Resources
Effective Date: 05/20/2019

Scope

All employees of the University, including staff, faculty, volunteers, visitors and interns.

Policy

Iona University hosts minors on its campuses in a variety of contexts. Minors participate in academic programs, mentoring programs, sports camps and a host of other social, educational and vocational events on our campuses. Iona University intends to maintain a safe environment for all visitors to its campus, with special emphasis on visitors who are minors. In order to best be able to get appropriate resources to anyone in our community who needs assistance, the administration needs to know about occurrences of crimes or other crisis related situations which could be injurious to one’s health or safety or the safety of the entire community.

Terms & Definitions

Supervision

Minors must be under the care of, and supervised by, adults at all times while on campus. Supervision means line of sight supervision at all appropriate and practicable times, including during meals and breaks from an activity or event. This necessarily precludes minors being left to traverse the campus on their own. Provisions for supervision should be arranged in advance. The adult supervisor must ensure that minors are not disruptive in any way to University operations, staff, faculty or students.

There should be an appropriate ratio of minors to supervising adults, e.g., 12:1 for groups of 44 or less minors and 15:1 for groups of 45 or more minors, unless circumstances or applicable laws or regulations dictate otherwise. Where the number of minors exceeds 20, and there are both boys and girls, every effort should be made to have both male and female supervisors.

Campus Safety should be advised in advance of any program with Minors coming to campus.

Signs of Potential Abuse or Threats

Indicators of physical abuse include any unexplained bruises or welts, burns, fractures, lacerations, or abrasions. Behavioral indicators include aggressive or withdrawal-type behavior, if a child is reticent of parent, afraid to go home or is reporting injury by parents.

Indicators of physical neglect include consistent hunger, lack of supervision, unattended physical needs, or abandonment. Behavioral indicators of neglect include begging, stealing food, fatigue, drug or alcohol abuse, delinquency, or verbalization that there is no caretaker.

Indicators of sexual abuse include difficulty walking or sitting, torn or stained underclothing, bruises, or bleeding in the genital area, venereal disease, and pregnancy. Behavioral indicators of sexual abuse include unwillingness to change in locker room, withdrawal, fantasy or infantile behavior, or verbalization of sexual assault by caretaker

Minor indicates an intent or desire to harm self or others.

Reporting Structure

All Responsible Employees who suspect that a minor participating in any program/activity has been abused or neglected, or may be in danger of harming self or others, or has any concerns regarding the safety of a child, must take the following steps:

1. If a child is in immediate danger or requires emergency assistance, call 911 and Campus Safety and remain with the minor until help arrives.
2. If there is no immediate danger, contact the designated supervisor/program director or Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator and the Director of Campus Safety, when it is safe and appropriate to do so. Upon receipt of notice, the designated supervisor/program director shall notify Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator.

Any reporting to state and/or federal agencies is centralized and must be completed by either the Program Director or Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator within 48 hours of an oral report. The Program Director must confirm a notification of a report to the Director of Human Resources once it has been completed.

Iona University Responsibility

The Site Director and/or the Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator are responsible for:

1. Obtaining a signed and written account of what has been observed by Responsible Employee or learned about the incident from involved parties, including the minor.
2. Taking steps to prevent further harm to the minor involved and other minors, including, where appropriate, removing the alleged abuser from the campus or limiting his or her contact with minors pending resolution of the matter.
3. Determining whether local law enforcement or county child welfare has already been notified and, if not, whether notification is required or appropriate given the circumstances.
4. If a parent or legal guardian of the minor involved has not been notified, and is not the alleged abuser, promptly notifying the parent or legal guardian.
5. Investigating the report and resolving the matter in a way that safeguards minors on campus, protects the interests of victims and reporters, affords fundamental fairness to the accused, and meets relevant legal requirements.
6. Facilitating the University’s cooperation with any investigation conducted by local law enforcement, county child welfare, or any other governmental agency.

Confidentiality

Iona University will maintain the confidentiality of a report/complaint and the privacy of the persons involved to the greatest extent possible, consistent with the appropriate Iona University policy and to the extent permitted by law.

Anti-Retaliation

Iona University prohibits retaliation against any member of the Iona University community who makes a good faith report or complaint under this policy.