Six colleges across the nation received bomb threats via e-mail Tuesday, Sept.11, highlighting the importance of security on the nation’s campuses.
Closer to home, UT has been operating under enhanced security procedures that were implemented in August as a result of the newly formed Security Study Group (SSG).
Background
After a February Minaret reported about an on-campus rape, the Department of Education launched an inquiry into UT’s compliance with the federal Clery Act regarding the proper disclosure of information.
The University had failed to include documentation of the rape in its Police Log, merely stating the word “confidential.” This violated the Clery Act, which requires full disclosure of crime on campus.
“I really believe it was just an honest mistake,” said Rod Plowman, vice president of administrative services for the University. Plowman does not believe that anyone was intentionally set on hiding anything.
President Vaughn took the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive review of UT’s security policies, entrusted to the Security Study Group that was due to submit its findings to the President by May 30.
Findings
The SSG, which Plowman says had discussion with more than 100 concerned students, faculty, and community members, completed their inquiry with 19 recommendations to enhance security on campus.
The recommendations came in four main areas: policy disclosure, records collection and retention and information; incident and victim response; safety education and programming; and internal and external communication.
The 81-page reportis accessible on Blackboard under the “campus safety ‘ security” course.
It was released to the public after the Department of Education confirmed June 18 that “Our review into the University of Tampa’s compliance with the Clery Act has been closed with no further action.”
Aside from refining the daily crime log and improving the safety alert policy, most of the recommendations had to do with revising structural organization policies that better equip the University to handle serious incidents.
Linda Devine, vice president of operations and planning for the University and co-chair of the SSG with Plowman, explained to Minaret reporters that a lot of the SSG’s findings had to do with finding ways to formalize and codify procedures that had previously only been followed arbitrarily and in a less structured manner.
The co-chairs of the SSG, as well as President Vaughn, expressed significant satisfaction with the results of the group’s inquiry, noting their relief at having found no “major” flaws in the University’s previous security policies.
The major additions, rather than codifications, that came out of the inquiry were the “SMART” text messaging service, charged with sending out text messages in case of emergency to more than 700 enrolled students, and the “Silent Witness” and “Students of Concern” web forms, which allow for truly anonymous tips to be passed along to authorities at no risk to the informer.
Student Reaction
It was recommendation number 11, the designing of a comprehensive educational program, which was really emphasized by Plowman and other senior administrators as a top priority.
To this end, the office of Residence Life has mounted a significant campaign to inform students of the changes on campus. According to Krystal Schofield, Residence Life coordinator, the policies were spread through brochures delivered to early arrival rooms, a global e-mail to all students, flyers available at check-in, and lectures at floor meetings and family orientation.
But if a 20-person sample of convenience, as conducted by The Minaret, is any indicator, further efforts are needed to spread awareness of the policies.
Though half of the sampled students were aware of the new security night watch in residence halls from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., only two had heard of the Security Study Group, its report, or any of its new policies on campus. None of the twenty had read any part of the SSG’s findings on blackboard.
The two who were familiar with the security policies were very positive in their appraisal, one saying that she was “really happy with the results.”
But if the 18 out of 20 who hadn’t heard of the policies are generalizable, more effort still needs to be made for recommendation number 11 to be effective.
As part of the recommend-ations, the single source security report will become an annual event on campus.