In a welcome bit of regulatory relief at time when institutions of higher education are working to comply with a new Title IX rule by August 14, 2020, the Department announced on July 10 that it is extending the date for institutions to distribute their Annual Security Report (ASR) and Annual Fire Safety Report (AFSR) to required recipients to December 31, 2020 (from October 1). The Department does encourage institutions to distribute their reports on the normal schedule if possible.
In addition, the electronic annual crime and fire statistics survey will now be open now from November 18, 2020 through January 14, 2021 for transmission of data to the Department.
The Department states in its July 10 announcement that it “encourages schools to take appropriate steps to ensure the health and safety of their students and employees, to continue to act in accordance with their campus safety policies and procedures, and to advise the campus community about changing conditions that may affect their safety or any major changes to safety policies or practices.” Institutions continuing or returning to partial or full on ground operations should keep in mind that they are still obligated to comply with their published campus safety policies and procedures, including with regard to emergency notifications and crime statistics collection and reporting. Any changes to published procedures should be communicated to the campus community.
https://ifap.ed.gov/electronic-announcements/040320UPDATEDGuidanceInterruptStudyRelCOVID19