Missing Student Notification Policy and Procedures

In accordance with the Higher Education Re-authorization Act of 2008, this policy provides procedures for reporting, investigating and making emergency notifications regarding any currently enrolled Boston Conservatory student who is believed to be missing.

A student is presumed to be missing when he or she is absent from The Boston Conservatory and/or has been reported missing by another individual without any known reason or for reasons that are inconsistent with the student’s established patterns of behavior and cannot readily be explained. Before presuming that a person is missing, reasonable measures should be taken to determine whether or not the person is at his or her place of residence and whether or not anyone familiar with the person has seen or heard from the person recently or is aware of his or her whereabouts.

Other considerations may include:

• Suspicion that a criminal act is involved or that a student’s physical safety is in danger;
• Knowledge that the lack of a prescribed medicine may threaten the student’s health or life;
• Existence of a physical/mental disability indicating that the student’s physical safety is in danger.

Any member of The Boston Conservatory community who is concerned that a student is missing should contact one or more of the following:

Public Safety Department
617-912-9191 (24-hours)

Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students
617-912-9121

Director of Housing and Student Life
617-912-9165

Emergency Situations
911

Reporting and Investigating a Missing Student

All reports of missing students made to The Boston Conservatory will be investigated by appropriate Conservatory personnel under the coordination of the Director of Public Safety.  The assistance of the Boston Police Department, or other appropriate law enforcement agencies, will be sought if such assistance is warranted by the initial investigation.

Emergency Contact

A resident student is any student residing in a Boston Conservatory residence hall under a Conservatory housing contract. All resident students are required to designate an emergency contact person as part of the check-in process to their residence hall. If a student moves into a different Conservatory residence hall, he or she is required to submit this information when checking in to that hall. Further, all enrolled students at The Boston Conservatory are requested to designate an emergency contact person at the time of registration. Only authorized Conservatory officials, as part of their responsibilities, and law enforcement officers, as part of their investigation, may have access to this information.

Informing Designated Contact Person 

The Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students or his/her designee is required by law to inform the designated emergency contact person (and/or the custodial parent or guardian in the case of a minor) within 24 hours of receiving a missing person report.