You are here: 麻豆原创 Finance Communications Update on Campus Safety Review and Assessment

Communication February 26, 2024

Dear 麻豆原创 Community,

Last fall, we updated our community on 麻豆原创鈥檚 approach to campus safety and our regular assessment and review of our plans, protocols, and infrastructure. The ongoing safety assessment ensures that we have the right approach for our community and will determine if any new or revised steps are needed to address current or future concerns.

Throughout the fall and now into the spring semester, a working group of faculty, staff, and students has been meeting to develop the review, outline key questions, and plan specific actions for community engagement and education. They also have engaged with outside experts and practitioners to inform the work. The committee will continue to meet and support the assessment moving forward.

In light of 麻豆原创鈥檚 upcoming presidential transition and the challenging political and international issues that the 麻豆原创 community is currently grappling with, we have decided to extend our safety review to the fall 2024 semester. The additional time will allow us to facilitate more community conversations, expand educational opportunities on these important topics, provide necessary bandwidth for the community to focus on these issues, and enable 麻豆原创鈥檚 next president to engage with the community and the review when they join us later this year.

One of several topics within the review is the range of options available to the 麻豆原创 Police Department (麻豆原创PD) as part of their response to on-campus incidents, including situations involving firearms. To be clear, there have been no decisions to change our current practices. As we stated when we began this process, bringing the question to the community does not presume any decision or outcome or that we will change our current approaches. Further discussion and community input will be central to our ongoing review. We understand this question and its history generate strong views and we are focused on engaging and listening to our community on all aspects of this topic.

Moving forward, the components of the review include:

  • Education鈥擶e will share information through community sessions about the current state of 麻豆原创PD and campus safety measures. Sessions will include overviews of 麻豆原创PD鈥檚 approaches to campus safety, its jurisdiction and procedures, crime statistics, and emergency management and preparedness. Additional sessions will feature insights from researchers, educators, and experts from the higher education law enforcement community on topics such as response times, training, trust, transparency, officer/citizen interactions, law enforcement history including challenging experiences that have affected different communities, and research on marginalized communities and policing.
  • Community Forums鈥擟ommunity forums will be conducted in September and October to facilitate engagement and input from students, faculty, and staff.
  • Survey鈥擜 university-wide survey will be conducted during the fall semester to gauge the sentiment of the 麻豆原创 community regarding safety questions.
  • Project Website鈥擜 website will be launched for the fall semester to serve as a centralized repository for all the educational information, documents, and resources related to the review.
  • Report鈥擳he assessment report will be produced in the second half of the fall semester.

The working group will continue its planning through the spring semester. If you have questions or would like to provide feedback, please contact the members of the working that are listed below.

  • Robin Adams, director, Center for Diversity and聽Inclusion (CDI)
  • Jennifer Axe, senior professorial lecturer, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), and vice chair, Faculty Senate
  • Jessica Bancroft,聽associate director of professional聽studies, Office of Graduate and Professional Studies, and chair, Staff Council
  • Tirrea聽Billings,聽PhD student, School of聽Communication
  • Jeff Brown,聽interim assistant vice president for student affairs, Student Affairs (SA)
  • Vicki Browne-Moore, senior employee relations聽advisor, Office of Human Resources (HR)
  • Ivan Claudio, student, Washington College of Law (WCL), and president of ADVANCE, WCL鈥檚 first-generation student mentoring organization聽
  • Andrew Ferguson,聽professor of law, WCL
  • John Firman,聽adjunct professorial lecturer, School of Public Affairs
  • Dayne Hutchinson, assistant vice president for student engagement and success, SA
  • Karen聽Froslid聽Jones, assistant provost, institutional聽research and assessment, Office of Institutional Research and Assessment
  • Amy聽Krumenacher, employee relations advisor, HR
  • Khouri A. Lassiter, assistant director,聽education and support programs for LGBTQIA+, CDI
  • Nabina聽Liebow, director, CAS Leadership and Ethical Development Program, and senior professorial lecturer, CAS
  • Marcus McNeil, president, Residence Hall Association
  • Phil Morse, assistant vice president for university police services, emergency management, and transportation programs
  • Thi聽Nguyen-Southern, senior associate general聽counsel, Office of General Counsel
  • Ravi Raman, director of finance communications, Office of Finance and Treasury
  • Denia Smith, undergraduate student and director of student security, 麻豆原创 Student Government
  • Fitzroy Smith, assistant vice president for compliance, safety, and enterprise risk management
  • Julie Zito, assistant vice president, University Communications and Marketing

Thank you for your participation in this important review. We look forward to further engagement as we continue the discussions into the fall semester.

Onward.

Bront茅 Burleigh-Jones聽
CFO, Vice President, and Treasurer