In accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Duke University has developed a policy for notifying the designated emergency contact in DukeHub for a student who is determined to be missing. A student may be deemed missing if it is reported to appropriate university officials (Duke Police, Residence Coordinator on-Call, or the Dean on-Call) that the student has been unreachable via personal contact, telephone, e-mail, or other means of electronic communication for 24 hours or more. If members of the Duke community believe that a student has been missing for 24 hours, it is critical that they report that information to the Duke University Police at (919) 684-2444. A Residence Coordinator on-Call or Dean on-Call who receives such a report will immediately report it to Duke University Police.
Duke University will notify any missing student’s confidential contact(s), if provided, within 24 hours of the determination that the student is missing. In the event a student is under 18 years of age and not emancipated, Duke University must notify a custodial parent or guardian within 24 hours of the determination that the student is missing, in addition to notifying any additional contact person designated by the student. For all missing students, Duke University will notify the local law enforcement agency within 24 hours of the determination that the student is missing, unless the local law enforcement agency was the entity that made the determination that the student is missing.
Upon determination by Duke University Police that a student is missing, the designated missing person contact will be notified as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours after that determination that the student has been missing for 24 hours. The student’s custodial parent or guardian will also be notified if that person is not the designated missing person contact and the student is under 18 years of age and not an emancipated individual. Regardless of whether the student has identified a contact person, is above the age of 18, or is an emancipated minor, Duke University Police will inform local law enforcement (or the local law enforcement with jurisdiction) that the student is missing within 24 hours. Duke provides the option for each student living in an on-campus student housing facility to identify, separate from an emergency contact, a contact person or persons to whom Duke will make notification within 24 hours of the determination that the student is missing.
Students are encouraged to periodically review and update their emergency contact information in DukeHub. When students enter a separate “Missing Person” emergency contact or contacts in DukeHub, that information will remain confidential and shared only with appropriate university personnel involved with a missing person investigation and law enforcement, and may not be disclosed outside of a missing person investigation.