Missing Persons Policy

In accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Young Harris College has developed a policy for notifying a student’s emergency contact on record for a student who resides in on-campus housing and who is determined to be missing.

A student may be deemed missing if it is reported to appropriate College officials (YHC Police Department, Director of Residence Life, or the Vice President for Student Development) that the student has been unreachable via personal contact, telephone, e-mail, or other means of electronic communication for 24 hours or more. Any College official that is notified of the above should immediately contact the YHC Police Department.

Upon determination by the YHC Police Department that a student is missing, the student’s designated emergency contact will be notified as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours after that determination. The student’s custodial parent or guardian will also be notified if that person is not the designated emergency contact, and the student is under 18 years of age and not an emancipated individual. The YHC Police Department may cooperate with local law enforcement officials in any missing person investigation involving a YHC student. Students may go to the YHC Police Department to assign a confidential emergency contact to be used in the event they become missing. Once assigned, this confidential contact information will only be accessible to authorized campus officials and law enforcement and is not disclosed outside of a missing person investigation.