The state comptroller has criticized SUNY campuses at Oneonta, Delhi and Cobleskill for each having dozens of discrepancies in reporting crime statistics from 2006.
The discrepancies were between data reported to the federal government and the campuses' annual security report to students and employees, according to the audit released Wednesday by state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. He raised concerns that inaccurate reports shed a poor light on campus safety.
However, officials at the local state university schools said their campuses are safe and that the audit focused on accounting procedures. Steps have been taken to correct or clarify reporting of the incidences, they said.
``The audit must be looked at in context,'' said Kim McLeod, spokeswoman for the State University College of Technology at Delhi. ``It's not a reflection of campus safety.''
SUNY campuses at Oneonta, Delhi and Cobleskill were among nine schools where auditors identified that reports of more than 20 crimes/violations differed from data reported to the federal Department of Education. At SUCO, there were discrepancies of 82 crimes/violations, which SUNY officials said resulted from using data from two time periods, the audit said. At SUNY Delhi, there were discrepancies of 53 crimes/violations, and at SUNY Cobleskill, there were 44, according to the audit.
Also, the three campuses were cited for improperly reporting crimes in relation to geographic sites and/or whether crimes occurred in an academic or residential facility. The audit also said SUCO reported 266 on-campus liquor violation referrals to the Department of Education but didn't indicate those referrals on its annual report.
DiNapoli's auditors examined crime statistics reported by SUNY's 29 colleges from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2006, and compared the data with information reported to the federal Department of Education. Auditors found inconsistencies in 19 of 28 schools' reports to federal agency, according to the comptroller's media release, which said Empire State College didn't prepare an annual report.
Annual reports also had inconsistencies, the release said, and while some discrepancies were minor, others were significant and included reports on sexual offenses, burglaries and drug violations.
The 11-page audit said the SUNY system administration needs to improve training for campus personnel. Oneonta, Delhi and Cobleskill officials said staff and/or university police attended training sessions in the spring regarding the Clery Act, which requires higher education institutions to distribute an anuual security report with information about campus safety policies and procedures and campus crime statistics for the three most recent calendar years.
The federal Department of Education can suspend violating colleges from access to Title IV student financial aid programs if colleges are not in compliance with the act.
Another condition of the act is that SUNY schools make their annual report available to students and employees by Oct. 1 and report crime statistics to the Department of Education, which posts the statistics online at www.ope.ed.gov.
SUNY agreed with the findings and recommendations, James R. Van Voorst, SUNY's interim vice chancellor for finance and business, said in a nine-page Sept. 15 letter responding to a draft of the audit. But the review overstates discrepancies and doesn't accurately portray SUNY's compliance with the Clery Act, he wrote.
Oneonta: We weren't concealing
SUCO was substantially in compliance with the Clery Act, said Barton R. Ingersoll, the college's University Police chief and associate vice president for student development. Ingersoll said the state controller's office is sensationalizing the inconsistencies.
Within 15 minutes of being notified in March of the discrepancies, the annual report on the college's website was corrected, he said.
The site hadn't included some categories, such as ``hate crimes,'' where there were no incidences, Ingersoll said, but details were added, including zeros, to show no such cases. Geographical data about the 266 referrals was added, as was more information about locations of incidents, he said.
SUCO wasn't concealing crime statistics but rather was lacking in meeting the technicalities of reporting data, Ingersoll said.
``We had all of our statistics correctly reported to the Department of Education,'' Ingersoll said.
Parents checking on campus safety don't ask about the Clery Act data, he said, but do inquire about video surveillance systems, security devices, officer training and response time to calls.
``Statistics don't provide security,'' he said.
Cobleskill conducted internal review
Holly Cargill-Cramer, spokeswoman for the State University College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill, said the state didn't inform the campus about its specific discrepancy.
But an internal review found that 26 drug-related incidents referred for internal disciplinary action were reported to the Department of Education, but not listed in the campus annual report, a clerical error that has been corrected, Cargill-Cramer said.
``We admit there was an error there, but it doesn't make the campus unsafe,'' she said Wednesday.
Local SUNY officials also noted that the data are on-campus offenses reported to college officials, not convictions or incidents that are crimes.
Auditors came to Delhi
The auditors visited four SUNY campuses, including SUNY Delhi, to review records. At SUNY Delhi, two of three incidents not reported to the Department of Education were for drug violations, the audit said. Twelve crimes, including two sexual assaults and two weapons charges, weren't accurately recorded in the school's crime logs.
The audit didn't specify how the discrepancies were identified, McLeod said. Some inconsistencies could be based on unclear definitions, such as the differences between burglaries and larcenies; distinctions between academic buildings and dormitories; and whether incidents occur on public property.
``We are now taking action to define locations better,'' she said.
SUNY Delhi officials had reported data based on academic years, not realizing that information was to be based on calendar years, she said, and an appropriate adjustment was made.
The Clery Act requires reporting of burglaries but not larcenies, which involve theft from an area accessible to the public or to which an offender has access.
Congress enacted the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act in 1990, and it was later renamed the Clery Act for Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman who was raped and murdered in her campus residence hall in 1986.
Roger Johnson, assistant vice chancellor for University Police, said the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors is SUNY's ``top priority."
Nothing in the comptroller's audit disputes that SUNY campuses provide safe environments, Johnson said in a media release Wednesday, cautioning that "care must be taken in reviewing these issues.''
"We will review the comptroller's audit and clarify any reporting inconsistencies,'' Johnson said. ``Our police officers are experienced, trained to meet New York state standards and keep SUNY campuses safe."
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Denise Richardson can be reached at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000, ext. 213, or at. drichardson@thedailystar.com.
