The United States Department of Education published a set of amendments to the Jeanne Clery Act last month that require stricter policies for reporting stalking, sexual assault, domestic violence, and dating violence.

The Clery Act is a federal law that requires the timely reporting of crime statistics in all federally funded schools.

The amendments, which are listed on the DOE’s website, require colleges establish a set of rules for reporting assaults. Every institution must keep detailed records of evidence and how and to whom the alleged offense was reported.

The new regulations also require colleges to provide victims with documents about preservation of evidence, options for help, and a record of any police reports.

Overall, the amendments seek to more clearly define the rules of reporting instances of assault or stalking. They also require college officials receive annual training on these topics before they assist in the reporting process.

Eric Schiazza, an Emerson College Police Department spokesman, said he was unsure how the new changes would affect the college. ECPD is the organization responsible for reporting the statistics. He referred Beacon reporters to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s Violence Prevention and Response team.

Melanie Matson, the director of VPR, declined to answer questions about the updates and deferred all questions to ECPD.