Campus
security issues: Consider your safety while advising
Steven
Stolar
Director
of Advisement, Transfer and Career Services
Cumberland
County
College,
Vineland ,
NJ
Who
provides leadership for campus safety and security at our colleges
and universities? Can advisors identify these individuals by name?
Do we know these individuals by sight? Do we know the staff affiliated
with these offices by name, telephone extension, and location?
Do we, as advisors, feel we can rely on these individuals or the
services provided on our campuses to ensure our safety in the
workplace?
Where
do we report an incident? Do the chains of command at our institutions
require us to bring complaints to our immediate supervisors? Or
do we have the liberty to contact the campus security office when
necessary? How responsive are our campus security teams? What
level of confidence do we have in these services? When was the
last time advisors on our campuses attended a training session
on what to do in the event of a threatening danger observed in
the work environment?
Evolving
practices in campus safety
A
generation ago, when I grew up, we knew that schools could provide
parents with a great deal of assurance about their child's safety.
In just a few decades this perception has radically changed. Recent
campus violence has been nothing less than horrific and has terrified
parents across the country. Our positions as academic advisors
in colleges and universities, both residential and commuter, require
that we constantly engage the public by inviting them into our
offices. We are open environments. Now, more than ever, we must
take the time to examine our institutional policies, procedures,
and safety precautions; we must make sure that resources and budgets
are available to assure the safety of ourselves and our students.
Campus
safety is a relatively new arena where little has been written
regarding academic and student services. Traditionally, issues
such as this have fallen within the area of law enforcement. Academic
advisors have thought little about maintaining safety and security
within the workplace. Advisors have been trained in student development
and human potential, not in lockdowns, campus safety, and self
defense. We often rely on the campus police force or campus security
personnel to protect us while at work.
My
intention here is not to conduct an extensive literature review
and put forth what academics, scholars, and authors have discovered
in their research on campus security. Rather, this piece is meant
to be a common sense reference from an individual with 28 years
of student services work who is a licensed counselor and a graduate
of Virginia Tech.
Discrete
weapons and self-defense
Advisors
must ask: What would I do if a student reached over my desk and
grabbed me by the shirt? What would I do if a student sat down
in my office and revealed a weapon in a knapsack or briefcase?
What would I do if a student made a verbal threat? In a worse
case scenario, what would I do if I was attacked in a restroom,
in a hallway, stairwell, or on the way to a parking lot?
These
are not easy questions to ask but they really must be considered.
Advisors who have never attended a class on self-defense should
consider doing so. Additionally, we should look at our desks.
What items can be used for self-protection? A pen, a letter opener,
paperweight, or stapler can be useful. Perhaps a can of mace in
the top drawer should be standard equipment in all offices.
Advisors
must examine their office layouts and consider how to exit the
office without crossing the path of a threatening individual.
Is it feasible to exit the office through the door? Is the desk
a barricade separating the advisor from the door? Do advisors
keep their office doors closed when advising students to respect
their privacy? These considerations are important to both men
and women and are very important to individuals not physically
capable of defending themselves in a physical altercation.
At
the community college where I work we have instituted a series
of reactive and proactive policies and procedures to best assure
our safety. A laundry list of items needed to be addressed including:
emergency telephone extensions, electronic campus safety notifications,
emergency code words, construction issues, emergency exits, scheduling,
awareness, weapons, lockdowns versus evacuations, institutional
policy and expectations of student behavior, cameras, metal detectors,
crisis intervention training, and finally, forming a Student Intervention
Team known as the SIT committee.
Student
Intervention Team (SIT)
The
most recent initiative, the SIT committee, was established to
address unacceptable student behavior on campus. Examples of this
are verbal outbursts, classroom behavior that is perceived to
be dangerous or unreasonable, outbursts of aggression in and out
of class, aggression against other students or property, and,
of course, more obvious examples such as threats and overt expressions
of violence. Referral forms are available throughout campus which
individuals can complete and forward to the SIT committee members.
Over a four month period approximately two dozen SIT referrals
have been reviewed. Among these referrals have been several examples
of students who need counseling, psychological assessment, or
intervention with referral to crisis management in either college
or off campus counseling centers.
We
have been very fortunate that our campus has traditionally been
a very safe environment and we have not been subject to any extreme
cases of violence. We have been able to intervene and provide
students with services they desperately needed. In future years
we expect our SIT committee to be more proactive and anticipate
how they will address unwarranted student behaviors as they promote
campus wellness.
Institutional
policy
There
are 22 specific student conduct infractions identified in our
Student Handbook. These include “common sense” infractions such
as harassment, causing physical or psychological harm to another
person, making racist or discriminatory comments, using inappropriate
language, misusing or damaging fire safety equipment, falsifying
student records, gambling, excessive parking violations, and other
items familiar to most campus conduct codes. The college also
distributes, via the student handbook, the procedures used by
the Student Judiciary Committee if these policies are violated.
It is important that these documents are kept current, reviewed
annually, printed regularly, and distributed to all students.
It is perhaps even more important that these publications do not
go unattended by students. Students must be aware of the college’s
expectations of their behavior. At Cumberland
this is done in our freshman
seminar, the first-year experience course required of all new
students. It is one thing to have a document in existence, but
it is a very different one to make sure its contents are known
to the student body.
Emergency
notification system
Another
recent initiative undertaken by our institution has been the establishment
of an emergency notification system for all employees and students
in the event of an emergency be it campus violence or a weather
emergency school closing. We use a system from the Blackboard
Corporation called BlackboardConnect ® www.blackboardconnect.com
. This is a very user-friendly system in which students may
interact through their campus-based Web page, add cell and text
message numbers and various e-mail accounts where they would like
to be notified in the event of an emergency.
At
this point most colleges have an emergency notification system
and those that do not are very strongly encouraged to establish
one immediately.
Safety
words
Several
years ago our campus adopted the use of a designated codeword
in the event of a perceived emergency. We use a medically related
word. If, for example, someone in our office felt threatened,
that person could pick up the phone and say the codeword to the
individual on the other end; that campus individual would then
contact the campus security force. A parallel to our safety word
notification is the emergency code number. The number “777” is
a direct line to our campus security who use the caller ID system
to pinpoint the telephone. As is the case with the designated
code word, someone from our campus security office would arrive
at that designated office in a very short period of time.
Scheduling
and Training
When
developing work schedules attention should be paid to office coverage
with at least two people in the office at all times. This is particularly
important at small colleges or in departments where staffing is
minimal. Supervisors in buildings or offices on the perimeter
of the campus and those with little traffic should pay close attention
to scheduling issues. In the evenings and on weekends staff members
may be in jeopardy when left to work alone. Supervisors should
be sensitive to this issue and pay close attention to the staffing
practices for the offices they oversee.
Student
workers should also be considered in this regard as they may lack
the level of emergency training of full-time employees and may
not know what to do in the event of an emergency situation. All
employees, e.g., student, part-time, or full-time, should be provided
regular training for on campus emergencies.
Lockdowns
versus evacuations
We,
like many other institutions, instituted an evacuation procedure
for our campus. However, after the Virginia Tech incident, it
occurred to us that an evacuation procedure would not work in
all situations. Of course, in the event of a fire or a bomb threat,
evacuation procedures are essential. However, in the event of
an outside threat, lockdown procedures are necessary.
In
the event of a lockdown our campus bell tower chimes continuously.
This giant bell can be heard throughout campus and all employees
know that when they hear the bell tower chime on a continuous
basis they are to turn off the lights, lock the doors from the
inside, and stay away from the windows until notified.
Construction
Some
of the above issues are construction issues that require budgetary
consideration. Many older buildings have doors that do not lock
from the inside while newer buildings were often fitted with doors
which lock from the inside in case of a lockdown emergency. As
older buildings are updated doors should be fitted with hardware
that enables people to lock doors from the inside.
Other
infrastructure issues that must be addressed include campus lighting,
particularly near parking lots, and the placement of dumpsters,
shrubs, or any visual obstacles that might create a place for
someone to “hide.” Emergency telephones or alarm centers should
be placed throughout campus in locations that are easily accessible
and highly visible.
Exits
It
would make sense that everyone knows how to enter and exit their
building. Still, facilities personnel should mark all exits in
the event of emergency. In emergency situations people can panic
and well-placed, easily understood signs are a must.
Cameras
Advancements
in technology have made the use of video cameras common place
in areas like entrances, toll booths, and traffic intersections.
How amazing! Government, businesses, nonprofit agencies, and high
schools increasingly rely on technology to monitor the public
and employees. Colleges and universities will be no exception.
Surveillance/security technology should be budgeted annually and
maintenance upgrades need to be regular and thorough. Advisors
in office areas not equipped with these or other security devises
should request them, in writing to their immediate supervisors.
If the request goes ignored or the response is that “there is
no money for this” – ask again, and copy the next individual up
the organizational ladder. Managers who prepare budgets should
look outside their immediate job responsibilities and consider
the costs of protecting their staff with currently available technology.
Metal
detectors
Found
at prisons, airports and in other high security locations, metal
detectors represent the ultimate in currently available security
and strong iconic imagery. Their presence alone is a visual deterrent
to violence and crime. In locales where violence is prevalent,
high schools have installed these devices. Campus administrators
must examine if such extreme measures are necessary on their campuses.
Perhaps they may be appropriate for special events, particular
locations, or at specific times during the academic calendar.
Crisis
intervention training
Many
college staff members have participated in crisis management training.
Those with counseling backgrounds are particularly skilled at
managing or assisting individuals in crisis. However, this cannot
be confused with a crisis of violence that requires more than
talking. An individual or group might have a false sense of security
knowing that certain individuals in the office are “trained in
crisis management.” While these skills are important, they will
not be sufficient if someone enters a campus armed and with a
plan to cause physical harm to others. Always err of the side
of caution.
Awareness
One
of the most valuable tools an organization or individual has at
their disposal in a time of crisis is a sense of awareness. In
a broad sense, if something does not look or sound right, then
it probably is wrong. There are some things that cannot be taught
and perhaps this is one of those. Some of us are externally oblivious
to our environments. As we concentrate on our work we often do
not notice individuals coming in and out of our offices and classrooms.
We may not notice what they may be carrying
or how they are behaving; we may miss warning signs.
Conclusion
As
educators, we are not trained to be suspicious, but trusting.
This is particularly true for
counselors, advisors, and student personnel workers. We have been
trained to help and tend to look for the good in people. This
may leave us vulnerable.
If
perpetrators want to victimize an individual or organization,
their planning will permit them to gain entry. Recent events have
shown this. We must have emergency plans in place and be more
cautious and less trusting.
Cite
this resource using APA style as:
Stolar,
S. (2009). Campus security issues:
Consider your safety while advising. Retrieved from NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources
Web site http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Campus-security.htm
