Has your child's college addressed campus security in the wake of the VT tragedy?

Parent Cafe
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<p>I think there has been scattered discussion of new security procedures at various schools and I thought it might be useful to parents of prospective students if we shared what we knew about existing and proposed protocols at our various colleges in one thread.</p>

<p>Please share any comments you have received from your child’s college regarding the situation.</p>

<p>Through the UNC-Chapel Hill parent listserv I received a very long email from the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and the Dean of Students conveying condolences and addressing counseling needs of students and faculty. Professor Jamie Bishop was a former UNC professor and his wife rec’d his PhD from UNC. I understand he was well-liked by students and faculty so this is a very personal loss to those at UNC.</p>

<h2>Regarding security, the letter stated the following:</h2>

<p>"As parents, we know that you share our sadness and horror at this senseless loss of life and that you are concerned about the safety and well-being of your students. We want to assure you that their safety remains of the utmost importance to this university and that we are and will continue to do our best to provide a safe environment while they are in our care.</p>

<h2>The university has a number of emergency protocols and procedures in place to deal with all manner of emergencies. Whenever an emergency arises, our emergency response committee meets to plan and implement a response. Notifications about emergency situations happen in a number of ways including emails, fliers, telephone trees, and radio broadcasts. The committee has been working on plans for more advanced technology through cell phones as well as an emergency warning broadcast system using sirens. We also email parents about emergency situations."</h2>

<p>I can personally attest to the efficiency of the email system. In the fall, a stranger accosted a female student in a wooded area near the campus. Emails went out to students and parents immediately. My d checks her email every morning, but tends to be busy in the afternoons; so I actually knew about the incident before she did. I was able to call her on her cell phone and let her know what was going on so she could quickly check her email for details. Parents of freshmen and transfer students will be offered a chance to subscribe to the listserv during the summer preceding their child’s enrollment. If any parent hasn’t subscribed, I’d contact Dean of Students to be directed to the right party. </p>

<p>I am encouraged to hear UNC-CH is working on a cellphone/text message protocol as well as an emergency broadcast system.</p>

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<p>Of course, emails are not a perfect system either. I had heard yesterday with respect to the bomb threat at the Univ of Minnesota, that even though emails were sent out immediately (to 80,000 students, faculty, staff) it still took 1-2 hours for many emails to go through due to the large volume.</p>

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<p>I have to agree - I think texting and an emergency PA system are definite improvements, though texting may encounter the same overload problem.</p>

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<p>I got an email from my Resident Heads (married grad students who live with their kids in an apartment in our House) that afternoon, which I don’t feel comfortable printing, but which stated their support for all of us and reiterated information about mental health resources on campus and their willingness to talk, listen, and point us in the right direction for any and all problems or concerns. I also got an email from the College which spoke about the meeting they had the day of the shootings to go over procedures (meeting included people from all positions in the University, hospital personnel, University police, city police, and others). My school, thankfully, is actually quite safe and has a number of resources already, so the email ran through all of those. I have no idea whether it was sent to parents (or whether they even have my parents’ email), but I forwarded it along to my mom.</p>

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<p>I just received an e-mail from my son’s college about their emergency procedures and the reassurance that they are currently following 20 of the 23 safe practices measures for private colleges. Here’s the link to the e-mail:
<a href=“http://web.roanoke.edu/x12227.xml?refurl=x12227.xml[/url]”>http://web.roanoke.edu/x12227.xml?refurl=x12227.xml&lt;/a&gt; They primarily alert students through e-mail and word of mouth I think, but are looking into cell phone alerts.</p>

<p>My son’s college is 30 minutes from Virginia Tech and the colleges share some professors at VT, there’s a 3:2 engineering program with them, there’s a rideshare shuttle between the two schools and lots of the VA students have friends at VT. There have already been two services to help the students cope as well and all were given maroon and orange ribbons to wear if they choose to do so. I’m not sure what else they could do.</p>

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<p>Yes, we got a message from RPI’s Dr Shirley Ann Jackson. Note 4th paragraph.</p>

<p>To the members of the Rensselaer community,</p>

<p>On behalf of the entire Rensselaer community, I extend my deepest
sympathies to all who have been affected by today’s heartrending events
at Virginia Tech. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the
victims who lost their lives or were injured in this horrifying tragedy.
I am reaching out to the president of Virginia Tech to offer our
assistance and support.</p>

<p>Many at Rensselaer undoubtedly have ties to Virginia Tech, and events of
this nature are sure to heighten emotions on university campuses across
the country. I encourage members of the Rensselaer community to seek
counseling through the offices of Student Affairs and Human Resources.</p>

<p>We have learned that four members of our faculty and four students are
currently at a meeting at Virginia Tech. We have heard from the members
of the group and received assurance of their safety. They were attending
the annual conference of the Center for Power Electronics Systems, a
National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center headquartered at
Virginia Tech. The meeting has been canceled and the Rensselaer group
plans to return to Troy on Tuesday.</p>

<p>An event such as this makes us all pause and reflect upon how our
institution might respond to a crisis of this nature. Just over two
weeks ago, Rensselaer faced a harrowing incident of our own when, after
a full-day investigation, the tragic death on campus of one of our
former students was ruled a suicide. When circumstances were still
unclear, we took a conservative approach and closed the campus to ensure
the safety of all students, faculty, and staff.</p>

<p>As this incident demonstrated, we are fortunate to have a strong
relationship with the Troy Police Department and other local
authorities. We have developed procedures and participated in a number
of training exercises, some of which led to the steps we took on March
29. Over the past few months we also have examined our response to a
potential incident of the type that occurred at Virginia Tech, including
several meetings with local authorities on the topic.</p>

<p>Moving forward, we will continue to use the lessons learned from our
experience as we work with local authorities to enhance our
preparedness. We are accelerating our plan with the Troy Police
Department for emergency drills, and they have offered their help to
address any concerns members of our community may have about their
safety.</p>

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<p>Penn State Text Messaging alert <a href=“http://live.psu.edu/story/23681[/url]”>http://live.psu.edu/story/23681&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>General statement <a href=“http://live.psu.edu/story/23696[/url]”>http://live.psu.edu/story/23696&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I don’t think colleges inform their kids of any emergency alert system. Sending e-mails is not going to get immediate action, if there is a killer on loose on campus with a gun. But I am not sure what instructions should have been given. I think all colleges should have an emergency siren to go off in the even of some emergency with some course of action–go to e-mail or something when a catastrophe occurs. Say, the college office gets a message that there is a bomb in a building–what should everyone be told to do? Or if there is someone loose with a weapon and dangerous? I’d like to hear some ideas.</p>

9

<p>Berkeley sent out an email on Tuesday that offered condolences and detailed emergency procedures:</p>

<p>Dear Cal Parents,</p>

<p>Last night, Chancellor Birgeneau sent the following message to members of the campus community concerning the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech. We think it’s important for you to know what your student received and where additional resources regarding health, safety, and emergency information can be found. <a href=“http://calparents.berkeley.edu/health/index.shtml[/url]”>http://calparents.berkeley.edu/health/index.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<hr>

<p>To the Campus Community:</p>

<p>We are deeply shocked and saddened by the terrible tragedy in Virginia, whose scope and senselessness lie beyond the power of mere words to describe.</p>

<p>This afternoon, on behalf of our university, I sent a letter of condolence and support to the president of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Charles Steger, and his entire campus community.</p>

<p>Our campus is offering assistance and now stands ready to provide what ever might be necessary to help Virginia Tech cope and recover in the weeks and months to come.</p>

<p>Today’s events are also a most unfortunate reminder of the need to be prepared for emergencies of every kind. I want to assure everyone that nothing is more important to us than the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors.</p>

<p>As details of this terrible incident unfold, many from our own community may find themselves deeply unsettled by this news. Individuals who feel they could benefit from professional assistance are encouraged to seek help at the Tang Center; for details please visit their website. **momof2inca’s note: Here’s a good site from the center, “Coping with Trauma” <a href=“Coping with Trauma: Grief, Loss and Tragic News and Events | University Health Services”>Coping with Trauma: Grief, Loss and Tragic News and Events | University Health Services; </p>

<p>If you have further questions about campus security services and procedures, please do not hesitate to call the UCPD at 510-642-6760.</p>

<p>Finally, during the difficult days ahead I know that there will be a special place in all our thoughts and prayers for our friends and colleagues in Virginia.</p>

<p>Yours sincerely,</p>

<p>Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor</p>

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<p>HI, Momof2inca, I just posted wondering where you were and how the kiddos were doing. It is a too small world!</p>

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<p>U.Va. Safety Procedures
Date: April 18, 2007
To: U.Va. Parents
From: Patricia M. Lampkin, U.Va. Student Affairs</p>

<p>As we continue to deal with the aftershocks of the Virginia Tech tragedy, we recognize that parents and many members of the community have questions about established security procedures at the University of Virginia.</p>

<p>Safety of our students has always been a top priority. A number of us - from University Police to the Resident Staff and other Student Affairs professionals to those who serve on a University-wide safety committee - embrace the safety of our students and the larger community as central to our responsibilities. All of us collaborate as needed to respond to an event. Finding ways to improve safety is at the forefront of our minds.</p>

<p>As President Casteen said at a University-wide candlelight vigil last evening, colleges and universities are permeable communities. We value this freedom of movement as much as we value open dialogue and the flow of knowledge. As we move forward from this tragic incident, we somehow will need to balance these values with the reality of living in an era of still rare, but nevertheless real, evil and violence.</p>

<p>We are now in the process of reviewing our safety and notification procedures to see where they can be strengthened. As an immediate step, we have increased the number of uniformed personnel around Grounds, and those officers are being especially attentive to the surrounding environment.</p>

<p>We do maintain and regularly review crisis plans for responding in the face of various disasters, whether those disasters arise from severe weather, terrorism, building malfunctions or disease. We are confident in those plans, in the capacity of our staff to implement them if needed, and in our ability to fine-tune them as situations dictate. At the same time, we acknowledge that living as an open society makes us vulnerable to unforeseen, virtually unpreventable, acts of violence.</p>

<p>Our current procedures for communicating with students in the event of a crisis involve the use of mass e-mail and Web postings. Since September 11, 2001, the University has posted news of emergencies and critical incidents on a Web site: <a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/emergency/[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/emergency/&lt;/a&gt;. One-line emergency notices also appear in red type on the University’s homepage.</p>

<p>We use an emergency telephone line to convey news of closings. In some cases, the news media can be our best vehicle for conveying critical news to large numbers of people.</p>

<p>Our Office of Residence Life responds immediately to notify students residing in our dorms and uses different mechanisms and approaches to manage this process based on the nature of an incident. Resident Staff, which includes both professional and trained student advisors, act in a coordinated manner to convey news in person, by phone, and by e-mail to their residents depending on the situation at hand.</p>

<p>We send safety reminders at key points during the year. If criminal activity occurs on or near Grounds, we send notices to each member of the community with relevant details and reminders on personal safety.</p>

<p>As recently as last week, we reviewed our communication procedures and discussed the viability of new technology to reach community members quickly and effectively. In fact, plans for a new communications system are under way and are expected to be in place by this fall. The system will include broadcast screens in key buildings as well as communication by text messaging to cell phones.</p>

<p>We will continue to look at all available options to ensure that our communications systems are multifaceted, are flexible enough for a variety of situations, and take advantage of new and emerging technology.</p>

<p>Our Parents Help Line (434-243-3333) is available to assist parents as needed in answering questions.</p>

<p>In the near future, we will be communicating further with students about personal safety and steps to consider in advance if they were to find themselves in a potentially violent situation. We will forward this communication to parents so we can work in a consistent manner to follow guidelines should a crisis occur.</p>

<p>While tragedies such as Monday’s are rare, education and preparation remain our best defense in keeping our community as safe as possible.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>Patricia M. Lampkin
Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/vatechsupport/safety.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/vatechsupport/safety.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>My kid called and I asked him if anyone at his school has any guns. He said guns are not permitted, so he didn’t think so. Nothing from the school officially.</p>

<p>A few days ago something strange happened in S’s dorm-- he was walking down the hall and a visitor (student’s father) came out of a phone booth and screamed and swore at my son. My son had seen another student rounding the corner, and all he could figure is that the other student was knocking on the phonebooth door and this upset the man. My son told the man that he didn’t do anything, but the man continued to swear at him and abuse him and told him to get the h-ll out. My son felt threatened (he’s been yelled at enough by his own dad, so I don’t think he’s that sensitive). I am a bit concerned about the school’s open policy to visitors. It seems that this guy was lacking in self control at the least, and possibly unstable. </p>

<p>After what happened at VT, I’m probably more worried about “weird” behavior than I ordinarily would be. I asked my son if he reported this incident, but he didn’t. I’ve been thinking about talking to someone at the school. I wonder if they should have a written policy for guests. Or possibly not allow this particular man to stay in the dorms. </p>

<p>Here’s my question: should I call, or should I forget about it?</p>

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<p>We haven’t gotten anything from S’s school, but the security there is so tight, I’m not sure what else they can do. Similar to what Soozie said on another thread, no one can get into a dorm without showing ID. (they both attend NYC schools). I tried to walk into the library when we were first visiting, and was summarily turned the other way. When we visit S, not only does he have to come down and get us, we have to leave ID at the desk until we leave, and sign in and out.</p>

<p>I don’tthink any of this bother’s him. It’s just normal to him, and he loves being in the city.</p>

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<p>

Call. .</p>

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<p>atomom - I agree…call. The incident needs to be looked into. It may be absolutely nothing, but this behavior was HIGHLY inappropriate for an adult. Better to play it safe now than have regrets later.</p>