Missing Person's Policy

McKendree University

Missing Student Notification Policy

Policy

A student shall be deemed missing when he or she is absent from the University and/or has been reported missing by another individual without any known reason for more than 24 hours. All reports of missing students shall be directed to Public Safety and Student Affairs which shall investigate each report. After the student has been determined missing, Public Safety will immediately notify the Lebanon Police Department. All students shall have the opportunity to identify an individual to be contacted by the University in case a student is determined to be missing, or in other types of emergencies. If a missing student is under 18 years of age, the Vice President for Student Affairs is required to notify the parent or guardian of the missing student not later than 24 hours after the determination that the student is missing. The Vice President for Student Affairs, or his designate, shall have the responsibility to make the provisions of this policy and the institutional procedures for a missing person available to students. 

Procedure

Process: 

Anyone who suspects a student may be missing should notify Public Safety, the Director of Residence Life, or the Office of Student Affairs immediately.

In conjunction, the Student Affairs Office and Public Safety will investigate the situation and then determine if the student is missing. 

The Vice President for Student Affairs or his designate will notify the President.

Public Safety will notify the Lebanon Police Department within 24 hours after determining that the student is missing.

The Vice President for Student Affairs will notify the individual identified by the missing student as the emergency contact within 24 hours of making the determination that the student is missing.

If the missing student is under the age of 18, the Vice President for Student Affairs will notify the student’s custodial parent or guardian within 24 hours of the determination that the student is missing.

Student Contact Information and Notification of Policy Procedures:

Students may designate their emergency contact information on the housing application. The information is available to the Office of Residence Life, Student Affairs, and Public Safety.

The University procedures for notifying students include posting the policy on the Office of Residence Life web site, sending the policy to students by University e-mail and by delivering a hard copy through the residence life staff, and including the policy in the McKendree University Student Handbook. 

September 2010