In late November, the Alabama Board of Adjustment denied a $1 million lawsuit brought by parents of an Auburn University student who was fatally shot on campus in March 2008. The victim’s father said his main reason for suing the school was to push Auburn to reinstate its campus police department. The university had dissolved its police force in 2004 and contracted with the city’s police department for campus protection.
This case illustrates the potential liability attached to campus public safety programs. Seven years after the mass shootings at Virginia Tech and six years after a similar incident at Northern Illinois University, colleges and universities continue to shake up their emergency communications and response capabilities to shootings and other criminal threats. NIU is now among the many colleges that have systems to transmit alerts to students via email, text, social media, and annunciation systems equipped with sirens.
For more on university security, read BD+C's Special Report: "How security is influencing campus design and construction"
State-mandated alert systems. Many states now mandate that campuses have active, sophisticated alert systems that are immediate and can reach a wide range of people. Within minutes of shots being fired outside Florida State University’s Strozier Library last November, FSU police issued an alert to 40,000 students. It read: “Dangerous Situation! Main Campus—Tallahassee. Seek shelter immediately, away from doors and windows.” Tallahassee police swept in and killed the gunman, who had wounded three people.
Smartphone technology and application software have made transmitting mass alerts simpler. Kristina Anderson, a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting spree—a 19-year-old sophomore at the time, she was struck by three bullets—co-developed LiveSafe, a GPS-enabled app that can be used to contact the police via chat, video, and voice. It has been in use at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, since August 2013.
Electronic reader systems with personal PIN codes. These have become fairly common. The ID cards can also be used as debit cards. But what’s becoming a “big deal,” according to security consultant Fred Miehl, Senior Security Consultant, LynStaar Engineering, is a new category called video analytics. This includes cameras that have been programmed to spot unusual movements and send out an immediate alarm, or video imagery that can be linked to images of criminals in police databases. All this technology is in the development phase.
Training and preparedness programs. Many security experts say that training students, faculty, and staff to be alert to potential threats is essential to any public safety program. The University of Pennsylvania conducts more than 200 safety workshops and forums each year for students, faculty, and staff. Since 2012, Bowling Green (Ohio) University has been training its campus community members about their options in an emergency through a program called ALICE—Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.
Mental health intervention. More colleges and universities are bringing mental health and psychology experts into their public safety networks to help identify and assist at-risk students, faculty, and staff before things get out of hand. Shootings, arson, and rape may not be predictable, “but they are preventable,” says Brian Van Brunt, President, National Behavioral Intervention Team Association, and Senior Vice President, National Center for Higher Education Risk Management.
One public policy issue of special concern to academia is the threat to privacy from the proliferation of camera surveillance on campus. In response, the University of Pennsylvania has restricted its surveillance to security and safety matters and may not intrude on private matters. It has established a monitoring panel comprised of students, faculty, and staff to address such questions as where cameras should be placed to protect privacy. Penn staff who monitor camera systems must sign confidentiality agreements and are prohibited from leaking videos of, say, public student intimacy, to social media.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Mar 11, 2016
How architects can help community colleges promote community on campus
Even in the face of funding challenges and historic precedent, there are emerging examples of how partnership between two-year academic institutions and designers can further elevate community on campus. CannonDesign's Carisima Koenig has a few key examples.
University Buildings | Mar 1, 2016
The 5 most questionable college and university rankings of 2015
SmithGroupJJR's David Lantz identifies five of the most flawed higher education rating systems, including ones with arbitrary categories, and others that equate college with a transactional investment.
University Buildings | Feb 29, 2016
4 factors driving the student housing market
In the hyper-competitive higher education sector, colleges and universities view residence halls as extensions of their academic brands, both on and off campus.
University Buildings | Feb 17, 2016
New ideas to help universities attract and empower STEM students
Educational institutions are focusing on new learning strategies that engage students in activities, enable collaboration across STEM disciplines, and encourage students to use their hands just as much as their heads, as Stephen Blair of CannonDesign writes.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 1, 2016
Top 10 kitchen design trends for 2016
Charging stations, built-in coffeemakers, and pet stations—these are among the top kitchen design trends for the coming year, according to a new survey of kitchen and bath designers by the National Kitchen & Bath Association.
| Jan 14, 2016
How to succeed with EIFS: exterior insulation and finish systems
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the six elements of an EIFS wall assembly; common EIFS failures and how to prevent them; and EIFS and sustainability.
Greenbuild Report | Dec 10, 2015
AASHE’s STARS tool highlights the university sector’s holistic approach to sustainability
Buzzwords like “living lab” and “experiential learning” are indicative of the trend toward more holistic sustainability programs that incorporate all facets of college life.
University Buildings | Nov 5, 2015
How active design is reshaping higher education campuses
Active design, a dynamic approach to design with a primary focus on people, assists students in learning to make healthy choices, writes LPA's Glenn Carels.
University Buildings | Nov 4, 2015
Yale completes Singapore campus
The Yale-NUS College has three residence halls and two administrative and academic buildings, with courtyards in the middle of them all.
University Buildings | Oct 16, 2015
5 ways architecture defines the university brand
People gravitate to brands for many reasons. Campus architecture and landscape are fundamental influences on the college brand, writes Perkins+Will's David Damon.