florida tech clery violation

Florida Tech at risk for nearly $9.8 million fine for under-reporting and over-reporting crimes

January 18, 2020 by theCrimson 2 Comments

By Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh and Emily Walker

McCay released a statement to the Florida Tech community on Jan. 13 announcing that a review of the 2019 Annual Security Fire and Safety Reports found 53 cases of under-reporting and 115 cases of over-reporting. In total, there were 168 cases found that were misrepresented in the report. This could lead to a fine of roughly $9.8 million dollars.

Clery law states that each instance of misrepresented data—whether that be under-reporting or over-reporting—may result in a fine of $58,328 to the university by the U.S. Department of Education. Florida Tech is a federally funded university, making it covered by Clery law and requiring it to release an annual report each year with campus crime statistics.

The previous fine was $57,317 per incident; on Jan. 14, the Department of Education released a notice that the fine has increased to $58,328 due to inflation.

According to S. Daniel Carter, the president of Safety Advisors for Education Campuses, LLC, who worked with the Department of Education as a key individual in writing federal regulations for the Clery Act, an incident of over-reporting is a misrepresentation of data and can result in the same $58,328 fine as an incident of under-reporting. He went on to say that fines are easier to avoid in cases of over-reporting than with cases of under-reporting.

“It is unlikely that the Education Department would impose the maximum fine,” Carter stated in an email. “While under-reporting is generally viewed as more serious, as a technical matter an error, over or under, constitutes exactly the same violation.”

According to McCay’s statement, eight of the underreported cases were reports of rape. McCay stated in his email that “it is important to note that the incidents of reported rape themselves were each taken very seriously and treated appropriately.”

All 115 cases of over-reporting were in the category of liquor law violations.

In addition to the misrepresented data, McCay announced that two employees have departed from the university since the review; one was fired and the other has resigned.

The university did not provide the names of the employees who were fired and resigned. In an email, Wes Sumner, the vice president of marketing and communications, stated, “Florida Tech declines to discuss the details of individual personnel actions.”

Linda Jancheson was removed from the position of Title IX coordinator, which she held since February of 2018, but still holds the position of employee relations manager in Human Resources.

The Title IX coordinator position has been filled by Fanak Baarmand. Baarmand is also the risk and compliance manager.

Linda’s reassignment was announced in an email sent to the campus community from Patrick Healy, Florida Tech’s general council.

“All incidents or complaints concerning Title IX policy violations should be referred to [Baarmand],” Healy stated in an email.

McCay and Frank Iannone, the director of security, stated that they plan to request to reopen Florida Tech’s crime statistics on the Department of Education’s website. They will re-enter the corrected data and include a disclaimer explaining why corrections were made.

A new 2019 Annual Security Fire and Safety Reports was posted to Florida Tech’s website in conjunction with McCay’s statement.

In an email to The Crimson, Sumner stated, “The updated crime statistics now posted to the Florida Tech website accurately reflect the results of the university’s internal review of reported incidents and are in keeping with the university’s assessment of Clery Act classification guidelines.”

Florida Tech will partner with an outside consultant in the coming months to further review the crime statistics and “gain additional input regarding process improvement,” McCay stated.

“The result of that outside review will be shared when complete,” Sumner stated.

If you have made a report to Security, Title IX or local law enforcement and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233

McCay apologizes for “a misleading report” and promises review of Clery Act violations

December 12, 2019 by theCrimson 3 Comments

By: Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

On Dec. 2, President T. Dwayne McCay and multiple senior administrators addressed concerns involving the Clery Act violations, apologized to the student body and discussed plans and reforms to come in the wake of the underreporting of crime statistics.

“The reporting was done poorly, it was very flawed, it’s never going to go unnoticed again,” McCay said.

The Clery Act is a federal law that requires federally funded colleges and universities in the United States to publish statistics regarding reports of crime on and around campuses annually. Clery reports are required to cover the past three years’ worth of crime statistics and must be released every Oct. 1.

Florida Tech is federally funded, thus making it a university that is required to release an annual Clery report.

Since the annual report was released, three students have come forward with reports of rape on campus that were not counted in the annual report.

McCay addressed the Florida Tech community, saying:

“I apologize to the student body for a misleading report, and not only on the Department of Education website, but also the report that was issued,” McCay said. “I plan to have a more personal hand in this in the future. I also want to assure the campus that the safety of our young men and young women was never something that we neglected.”

The Crimson met with the following senior administrators on Dec 2:

Frank Kinney—senior vice president for External Relations, Chief of Staff
Frank Iannone—director of security
Patrick Healy—General Council
Fanak Baarmand—risk and compliance manager
Eric Kledzik—senior vice president of operations
Wes Sumner—vice president for Marketing and Communications
T. Dwayne McCay—president of Florida Tech

“One thing we did not do was train our people well enough,” McCay said.

He also said that he would personally do better in the future and that he believed the issue would be “cleared up within three months.”

Iannone, who was the first to notice inconsistencies in the data gathered for the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, said he suspected inaccuracies in the data in August but had no tangible evidence.

“From my background experience and looking at where the campus is located in comparison to other campuses I worked on, I thought the statistics were a little lower than what I had expected,” Iannone said.

When asked why no disclaimer was put on the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety reports for the Sept. 27 release, McCay emphasized that there was no tangible evidence of inconsistencies and the importance of timeliness in reporting to the Department of Education by the Oct. 1 deadline.

“It’s a shame that timeliness might be more important than accuracy,” McCay said.

When creating the annual report, Security compiles data from multiple sources such as Florida Tech’s Title IX department, Melbourne Police Department, Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

As part of Baarmand’s job description as risk and compliance manager, it is her duty to help the university’s internal departments work together and provide the needed data for the report.

“We are trying to build that bridge so Security can reach out easily to HR and Student Affairs and gather that information easily for their reports,” Baarmand said. “We are trying to make sure that departments work and collaborate together.”

When The Crimson met with Linda Jancheson, Florida Tech’s Title IX coordinator, prior to the publications regarding Florida Tech’s Clery violations, she said that she did not know the number of rapes that had been reported to her during her time at her job, nor did she know the number of Title IX reports she gave to Security for the 2019 Security and Fire Safety Reports.

She was asked these questions two times in two interviews and said, “I do not know,” in both instances.

McCay and Healy—who Jancheson reports to—said Jancheson did not act in a negligent manner to their knowledge.

Since the Dec. 2 interview, both Jancheson and Healy have not responded to further requests for comments.

McCay said that the Clery data does not come across many desks prior to publication and is only seen by the Department of Security.

In a phone call, Rodney Bowers, the dean of students, said he does not remember reading the 2019 Security and Fire Safety Reports after it was released on Sept. 27.

“I’m sure I have seen the annual report before in my years here at the university,” Bowers said.

He added that if he ever noticed a mistake in the annual reports, he would “bring it to the attention of campus security immediately.”

Bino Campanini, the senior vice president of Student Life and Alumni Affairs and chief student advocate, stated that he did not see Florida Tech’s 2019 Security and Fire Safety Reports until the first Crimson publication regarding Clery inaccuracies. Campanini expressed his desire to be more involved when the annual reports are being compiled in the future.

“This issue is being taken very, very seriously,” Campanini said. “This is not something by any means that we are trying to push under the table. There is no one on this campus that does not care about our students. My number one concern is, do our students feel safe on this campus? I will say one hundred percent positively they do and that we do have a safe campus.”

Concluding the Dec 2. interview, McCay said, “You can talk to anyone in this room anytime you want to, and I never have had a problem with people talking to the administrators and the deans and all that.”

Follow-up interviews were requested to the following university employees that play important roles in campus safety and Clery reporting:

Carl Lewis—security officer
Fanak Baarmand—risk and compliance manager
Bonnie Rinck—security sergeant and Title IX investigator

All communication with these individuals was forwarded to Sumner, who replied with the following statement each time:

“As Dr. McCay shared in your recent interview with him, the university is in the midst of a comprehensive internal review of this matter with an external review planned as well. It would be premature to additionally discuss specific details at the present time. As Dr. McCay indicated, Florida Tech will be pleased to provide additional information when it becomes available, as well as address any additional questions.”

Efforts were also made to follow up via email with the individuals listed below, all of whom referred further questions and concerns to be sent to Sumner:

Holzer Health Center
Cat Nanney—director of Student Involvement

Moving forward, McCay has stated that the plan is to have an outside consultant hired within the next 60 days. The outside consultant will help conduct a full internal review of crime statistics dating at least three years back with the potential to examine data as far as seven years back.

“We are confident that the report is wrong, and we want to correct that as quickly as possible,” McCay said.

After an internal and external review has been conducted, the university plans to request to re-open Florida Tech’s crime statistics on the Department of Education website to enter the corrected data while providing a disclaimer as to why corrections were made. A new 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports will then be issued out to all students, staff and faculty.

“Everything in my life changed after I was raped.” Third confirmed rape not included within Florida Tech’s Clery data

December 10, 2019 by theCrimson 1 Comment

By Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

In light of The Crimson’s recent publications on Florida Tech’s Clery violations, a third student has come forward with a report of rape that occurred in 2018. This report of rape was not accounted for in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, which included data from 2016 through 2018.

For the past three years, all sex offenses, including rape, were cited as zero in the report.

Every year, federally funded colleges and universities are required by the Clery Act to release a report of campus crime statistics. Florida Tech’s security department is required to gather data from the campus security crime logs, the Title IX office, Melbourne Police Department, Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office to compile data for the annual report.

Nicole Farnsworth, a forensic psychology student, is the third survivor to come forward regarding her report of rape in 2018. In prior publications, The Crimson had two anonymous sources come forward about their reported rapes in 2018. Farnsworth is the first survivor to put her name on record.

“When I saw those zeros for the past three year in the Clery report, it felt like I didn’t exist, like I wasn’t real and that I wasn’t raped,” Farnsworth said.

Farnsworth, her service dog and her fiance attended the protest students held on Dec. 2. // Photo: Alice Shepard

In August of 2018, Farnsworth was raped on campus, according to Melbourne police records. At the time she was 17 years old. About two weeks after her rape, she went to the Holzer Health Center in fear that she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. After talking to her doctor, she was notified that due to the fact that she was a minor, her doctor was mandated to report her rape to the police.

According to Clery definitions, staff members at the health center and Counseling and Psychological Services are not mandated reporters unless it is for criminal offenses or if an individual that reports their rape is underage.

Farnsworth’s doctor at the health center gave her 24 hours to tell her parents about her rape before her doctor notified Melbourne Police Department.

Farnsworth’s doctor at Holzer Health Center was asked to comment on how they handle situations involving rape and sexual assault and the mandated reporting procedure the doctor must follow as a university official. They declined to comment, referring any further questions to Wes Sumner, the director of Marketing and Communications.

At this point in time, Sumner has not provided a comment regarding referral from the Holzer Health Center.

On Sept. 11, 2018 Farnsworth returned to Holzer Health Center to report her rape to Melbourne Police officers. She decided not to press any charges against her rapist.

Since her rape in August of 2018, Farnsworth has been diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.

In January 2019, she rescued Obi, a two-year-old pitbull mix, from a local shelter and is currently in the process of training him to be a service dog.

Since seeing The Crimson’s publications regarding Florida Tech’s Clery Act violations, specifically with underreported cases of rape, Farnsworth said she has experienced worsening of her anxiety.

“I’ve been having a lot more flashbacks, and Obi has been alerting a lot more to treat my anxiety,” Farnsworth said. “It’s been a lot more stressful, and I’m just really angry.”

On Dec. 2, Florida Tech students held a protest in response to the university’s Clery violations outside the Student Union Building. Farnsworth, along with her fiance and service dog, participated in the protest.

That same day, Farnsworth posted on Instagram about her experiences at the protest and her feelings toward Florida Tech after reading the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

Farnsworth wrote on Instagram, “This is not an oversight; this is a direct attack on all rape survivors.”

In that same post she went on to state, “Do not send your children here. Pick a different college.”

Nearly a week ago, Farnsworth applied to University of Central Florida with plans to transfer to their online program by this upcoming summer.

“In light of everything—not just with my rape, but the way in which the university has not accounted for it—has led me to make the decision to transfer,” Farnsworth said.

Below is Farnsworth’s letter to the editor, citing her victim impact statement.

On Aug. 28, 2018, I was raped in my dorm room at Florida Tech. I waited almost two weeks to report it to the Holzer Health Center. The nurse I spoke to told me everything was confidential before I disclosed what happened to me. She then looked at my chart and realized I was underage and informed me she had to report it to the police.
They came into the health center to take my statement. I told them I didn’t want to press charges unless either there was another victim or I had an STD. The sergeant informed me this was not an “if/or situation”—either I pressed charges then or I didn’t. I told him I didn’t want to. He asked my mother if she wanted to press charges. She also declined.
Everything in my life changed after I was raped. I was constantly angry; my friends couldn’t stand to be around me because I’d get mad over little things. Eventually, everyone I met that semester cut ties with me. CAPS didn’t help; all they offered were blanket coping strategies that weren’t working for me.
A few months after my rape, my rapist walked into my new dorm building as I had to be switched due to the paranoia. He was there to see a friend and was within five feet of me. I told my RA who he was and she told me to leave and she’d text me when she got him out of the building. I ran from Brownlie Hall to Panther Dining Hall, only stopping once because I tripped and fell. I had to go to the emergency room that night because I was having a panic attack that wouldn’t stop.
I’ve had two attacks since then, the next always being worse than the last. Any guy that remotely looks like my rapist gives me an anxiety attack.
In January of 2019, I adopted a dog who is currently in training to help alleviate the symptoms of my PTSD due to the rape. My fiance has to deal with behavior from me he wouldn’t have to had I not been raped.
When the Crimson article came out about Florida Tech and the Clery Act, every bit of anger I had came back. I realized I mean nothing to the school; I don’t even exist to them. Seeing their reports and how the school has responded made me realize they don’t acknowledge I was raped at all.
In light of all of this, I no longer want to attend Florida Tech. I look forward to continuing my education elsewhere in the near future, as I have plans to transfer to UCF by this upcoming summer.

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233