Dive Summary:
- The University of Texas at Arlington was fined $82,500 under the Clery Act by the U.S. Department of Education for incorrectly classifying crimes and underreporting disciplinary actions.
- A 2011 review by the Education Department found that, in 2008, the campus wrongly classified a forcible sex offense as an assault and an aggravated assault as an assault of a family member, and that the university failed to report 27 liquor, drug and weapons violations in crime statistics.
- Each of the three offenses landed the campus a $27,500 fine, and the institution is in the process of appealing the fines, citing its correction of the errors and implementation of new crime reporting software for campus police.
From the article:
... "Statistical data ... must be accurate and reliable," the Education Department wrote in a letter to James D. Spaniolo, president of UT-Arlington. "These failures have endangered UTA's students and employees who must be able to rely on the disclosures ... to take precautions for their safety." ...