COOS BAY — Southwestern Oregon Community College received a mixed review in a recent audit of its student housing policies, practices and programs.

Independent consultant Patricia Kearney said the campus staff’s good intentions were undermined by the college’s lack of process to deal with problems or meet standards.

“The problems were mostly procedural,” she said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I couldn’t find anyone who wasn’t trying to do the right thing.”

Kearney did credit the college with taking initiative to control student drinking, having clarity of its policies and practices, and excellent security of residence halls.

  On the flip side, she criticized staff members’ lack of knowledge on crime reporting systems and standards, and the lack of a plan to deal with dangerous situations on campus.

Jeff Whitey, director of student housing, presented the final report to the Southwestern Board of Directors in its meeting Monday night. Whitey discussed Kearney’s findings about efforts to control student drinking.

Whitey said the school has a three-strikes policy. First, a student gets a warning, with a second incident a student is removed from student housing and a third incident boots the individual out of the school entirely.

“The best a college can do is attempt to keep individual students safe and to stop large group drinking activities,” Kearney wrote. “As for as the SOCC policy on alcohol is concerned, it is the strictest policy I have ever seen.”

Kearney’s report said that though there is no strict guideline a school must take, Southwestern should consider developing a standard approach. She noted that one method of enforcing drinking rules or other campus standards — that of searching student rooms — may become problematic.

The housing conduct code gives housing employees the right to go into campus rooms or apartments, but says nothing about searching rooms.

“While reviewing conduct records, I saw a consistent pattern of searching student’s private possessions,” Kearney wrote. “I do not believe they have the right to search students’ private possessions.”

Whitey said that in the past employees have asked for permission to search, but the school should make a greater effort to document the search approval process.

After some questioning from board members who had already read the final report, Whitey acknowledged some shortcomings in following the reporting standards of the Clery Act. The act requires colleges and universities disclose certain crime and campus security information Oct. 1 of each year.

“I would say we are minimally compliant,” he said.

The act is complicated and the college’s staff needs to develop a better understanding of what is required, he added.

Kearney reviewed three school years of housing discipline records and compared them to what was documented in the Clery report for calendar years 2006 and ’07.

“The records I was given were hard to follow,” she wrote. “Incident reports were not linked to outcomes.”

She said follow-up meetings with students involved in incidents were not included and often it was difficult to determine what action was taken to address the behavior. She also noted that if students are arrested, the report does not list their charges. Kearney suggested all people responsible for providing Clery Act data be trained and a process developed to make sure all required information is reported.

Kearney said it’s not unusual for colleges, or even bigger institutions, to struggle to meet the numerous requirements of the act. At the same time, she said the problem cannot be ignored.

“There needs to be a be a way to capture all the information on an ongoing basis,” she wrote. “Someone needs to gather all information and then make judgments.”

Interim President Patty Scott suggested there are some classes or seminars staff members could take to help with understanding and compliance.

Whitey also identified another weak point in the housing policy.

“We need to have an emergency response plan,” he said.

Kearney did say the school has good plans for storms or power outages.

“However, there is no system to deal with an imminent danger of someone who is seriously disturbed or has a gun or hot pursuit of a criminal through the SOCC campus,” she said.

In her conclusion, Kearney acknowledged the college’s recent change in leadership, but also said the staff that remains is dedicated. She said the obstacles are not insurmountable.

“I was very impressed with how much was done by just talking, but there needs to be some more formality,” she said.