Missing Person's Procedure

The safety of students at Butler Community College is taken very seriously. Under the direction of the Butler Community College Department of Public Safety, and in compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, the following policy was created to assist in locating Butler students when the College has been made aware of their absence for a certain length of time.

1. All Butler students residing in on-campus housing must provide confidential contact information to the Director of Residence Life or his/her designee. It will be the responsibility of the student to keep this contact information updated and current. Record and security of this contact information will be maintained by the Office of Residence Life and will only be accessible to authorized campus officials. Should law enforcement personnel need this information for an ongoing missing person investigation, they will be given access.
    
2. If a member of the Butler community has reason to believe that a student is missing, he or she must file a report with the Department of Public Safety. For non-emergencies call 316.321.7657; for emergencies call 911. Any student living on-campus will not be considered missing if they are gone during recognized College holidays and/or breaks. Efforts to locate the student will be made immediately to determine his/her health and well-being with no waiting period. The Department of Public Safety in collaboration with the Office of Residence Life will work to locate the student using resources such as: phone, text message, social media, room welfare checks, classroom checks, proxy card usage, location of student’s vehicle, and interviewing roommates and friends.
    
3. If the investigation by Department of Public Safety determines that a student has been missing for more than 24 hours, the Department of Public Safety will notify the Director of Residence Life or his/her designee. The Director or designee will then contact the documented emergency contact provided by the student. Should the student be under the age of 18 (and not emancipated) or has failed to provide an emergency contact, the Director or designee will contact the custodial parent or legal guardian. The Department of Public Safety will continue to investigate in collaboration with the Office of Residence Life and the Associate Vice President of Student Services.
    
4. The Missing Student Policy will be included in the following publications:

• Course Catalog
• Student Handbook
• Provided to students upon completion of emergency contact information
• Annual Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act