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Policy Contact: Office of Student Affairs

1. Purpose

   This policy implements SDBOR Policy 3.4.5 and provides guidelines for the notification of law enforcement and appropriate persons that a University student is missing.

2. Policy
    
   1. For the purpose of this policy, a student is missing when the student’s whereabouts are unknown and unexplained for a period of time that would be regarded as highly unusual or suspicious by persons familiar with the student’s plans, habits or routines.
       
   2. Any person, including those not affiliated with the University, may report a University student as missing by filing a report with the University. It is not necessary to wait until the student has been missing for twenty-four (24) hours before making such a report. Reports may be made to the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, successor, or designee, or at the University Police Department.
      1. Current contact information for the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management: South Dakota State University, Administration (SAD) 312, Box 2201, Brookings, SD 57007; Telephone: 605-688-4493.
      2. Current contact information for the University Police Department: South Dakota State University, 1405 Jackrabbit Avenue, Brookings, SD 57007; Telephone: 111 from on-campus phones or 605-688-5117 from off-campus phones.
          
   3. Upon receipt of a missing student report, the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, successor, or designee, will promptly notify the University Police Department, and the University will attempt to locate the student on campus or at other sites controlled by the University and engage the University Police Department in this effort.
      1. Initial efforts to contact students will involve telephone or other electronic communications.
      2. If unable to contact the students by electronic means, University personnel will attempt to contact the students at their residence on the campus or in the municipal limits of the city of Brookings.
      3. If students who reside in University controlled residences do not respond to electronic contacts or to knocking on their doors, student affairs personnel may enter the students’ rooms in order to assess the condition of the room and to look for visible personal property (wallet, keys, cell phone or clothing) that might provide clues as to whether the student has taken an extended trip or other planned absence from the residence hall. If the initial investigation is being undertaken by the University Police Department, they will either request that student affairs personnel enter student rooms, or they will obtain search warrants.
      4. University personnel may pursue such additional or other investigative activities as are reasonable under the circumstances.
          
   4. If the University determines that the student has been missing for a period of twenty-four (24) hours, or if it cannot locate the student and it determines that the student appears to be missing, the University will immediately notify the Brookings City Police Department that the student is missing by calling 911 or by visiting 307 3rd Avenue, Brookings, South Dakota, or successor location of the Brookings City Police Department, unless the Brookings City Police Department was the entity that made the determination that the student is missing.
       
   5. When the University notifies local law enforcement agencies, it will also notify such persons as the student may have designated as an individual to be notified pursuant to this policy in the event that the student becomes missing (see section 2h. below).
      1. In the case of unemancipated students under the age of eighteen (18), the University will notify the students’ custodial parents or legal guardians.
          
   6. The University will determine whether circumstances suggest that others living, working or participating in activities at the University may be in danger, and if it determines that such a danger may exist, it will warn the campus.
       
   7. The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management is responsible for publishing this policy electronically through websites designed to convey emergency or law enforcement information; for incorporating its provisions into student handbooks or similar publications; and will otherwise assure that students know, or should know, of its provisions.
       
   8. At the time that a student is accepted as a resident in University controlled housing, the student will be given an opportunity to designate an individual to be notified pursuant to this policy in the event that the student becomes missing.
      1. Students will be provided confidential means to designate such individuals and to update their designations.
      2. Such contact information will be held as a confidential student record.
      3. Unemancipated students under the age of eighteen (18) will be informed that, in the event that they become missing, the University will notify a custodial parent or legal guardian pursuant to this policy.

3. Responsible Administrator

   The Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, successor, or designee, is responsible for the annual and ad hoc review of this policy and its procedures. The University President is responsible for approval of this policy.

Approved by President on 01/21/2015. Revised 02/01/2024 (clerical).

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