By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Fewer than 40 percent of the nation's colleges and universities comply with a federal law that outlines the way schools must report rape and sexual assault crime statistics.

That's among the findings of a first-of-its-kind study conducted by the nonprofit, Massachusetts-based Education Development Center Inc. and the University of Cincinnati. The study includes information collected from 2,438 colleges and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico.

"The information in this report brings data into the field which, until now, has rested primarily on anecdotes," said Sheldon Steinbach, vice president and general counsel of the American Council on Education.

Of the schools surveyed, only 36.5 percent fully complied with the Clery Act, which requires reporting of both forcible and non-forcible rape and sexual assault.

The majority of schools are turning in some kind of annual security report but are often not as specific as the law requires. Traditional two- and four-year schools fared better in compliance than smaller, non-residential programs.

Congress passed the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act in 1990 to require all Title IV-eligible schools to publicly disclose crime statistics and prevention and security policies on campus.

The law was amended in 1992 to require that schools afford victims specific basic rights and again in 1998 to emphasize reporting obligations regarding sexual assault. The most recent amendment is known as the Clery Act.

In November 1999, the National Institute of Justice awarded a grant to the development center and its partners - UC and the Police Executive Research Forum - to conduct the study.

Two UC professors, Bonnie Fisher and Francis Cullen, helped conduct the study, which provides a baseline for college administrators and lawmakers of the policies now in place.

"It also raises the question about whether schools should be adjudicating this kind of crime at all," said Heather Karjane, project director at the development center. "The most severe punishment is getting expelled, not going to jail.

"To facilitate the reporting process, campus administrators need to openly acknowledge that sexual assault occurs within the student population, she said. "It is not typically the result of stranger-rapist intruders breaking into an otherwise safe campus community. Administrators need to design their education, prevention, and response policies with this reality in mind."

The study found flaws in both educating students and investigating sexual assaults. Among the findings:

There are no standard institutional or state definitions of sexual assault and rape. But no matter the definition used, the majority of students don't define their experience of rape as a crime.

Less than half the schools provide new students with sexual assault awareness education.

Less than half the schools provide students with acquaintance-rape prevention programs.

Only 37.6 percent require sexual assault sensitivity training for campus law enforcement and security officers, although the training is fairly standard at four-year public schools.

Forty percent of schools provide students such as resident hall assistants and student security officers with sexual-assault response training.

Due process procedures for those accused are used only at 37.3 percent of institutions.

The study did not single out schools or rank them, so there is no way to tell how Tristate colleges and universities fared.

School officials in Greater Cincinnati say they do comply but also understand why it might be difficult.

"One of the reasons it's so difficult to comply is the complexity of the law," said Holly Wissing, a Miami University spokeswoman. "It's lengthy, very confusing and it keeps changing."

She said administrators work hard to ensure compliance.

"It's something we pay a lot of attention to, but that doesn't mean it's easy," Ms. Wissing said.

Many schools offer programs to educate students about sexual assault and rape, as well as safety services, including shuttles and escorts.

Xavier University, for example, oversees role-playing skits and has programs during freshman orientation. Resident advisers are trained through hall directors, and campus police officers collaborate with the Cincinnati and Norwood police departments in investigations.

Along with residence hall programs, crisis resource cards are given to students at the beginning of the year at Thomas More College that include public safety and rape crisis information.

Miami University offers freshman orientation programs for parents and students, peer education groups and self-defense classes among other things. But an education program that targets men, now in its first full year, is what has garnered national attention.

Kip Alishio, Miami's director of Student Counseling Services, leads the group, which is called Men Advocating Responsible Sex. It brings men together to talk about three things:

• The concept of consent.

• Communication with a partner.

• Bystander behavior, a technique that encourages men to confront their peers' attitudes about sex.

Ten undergraduate men have held 18 programs this semester that reached more than 200 students. These young men are beginning to contact coaches to hold programs for male athletes and Greek leaders for fraternity member participation.

E-mail: kgoetz@enquirer.com