Danielle Bernstein, a Possip intern majoring in Human and Organization Development and Sociology at Vanderbilt University, explores how colleges and universities can support student safety on campus.
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To ensure student safety and parental peace of mind, we recommend colleges and universities adopt and overcommunicate the following emergency preparedness and safety strategies. While overcommunication can be a trap administrators fall into, safety and security is a topic that cannot be communicated enough.
1. Seek Student and Staff Feedback
The best way to measure the effectiveness of campus safety and communication strategies is to consult the people who are the most impacted. Students and staff participate in drills, walk home alone at night, and call campus security numbers when in crisis. With student feedback, campuses can best improve their safety practices.
Possip’s Student Pulse Checks expertly gather student feedback and sentiments to understand student perception of their campus and its practices. Campuses can use Possip to assess if students are satisfied with campus safety and probe any pressing themes. Pulse Checks for Staff will give you a deeper understanding of the perception of safety on campus.
2. Encourage and Empower Students
When a student arrives on campus, they should be aware of important safety strategies they can take every day. Students should know not to walk alone at night, to report suspicious behaviors, and to never leave their drink unattended. However, the reality is that not all students know these strategies. Campuses must educate and communicate with students about how they can adopt safe practices.
Here are the ways in which campuses can communicate safety strategies and information with students:
- Partner with student groups to host personal safety and self defense courses
- Have frequent campus signage of emergency numbers and resources
- Place an emphasis on campus safety strategies in first-year and transfer orientations
- Ensure resident advisors discuss safety concerns and strategies with residents
- Require all students to complete bystander intervention training
3. Examine Proactive Nighttime Safety Measures
Administrators and parents alike consistently warn students to avoid walking alone at night. But campuses must acknowledge that students and often staff members sometimes can’t avoid walking home alone. Sometimes, late-night study sessions or hanging out with friends can last well past sunset. In winter months, often classes dismiss after the sun sets! Through acknowledging this reality, campuses can begin to provide proactive resources for students and staff to feel safer as they walk in the dark on campus alone.
Here are the ways campuses can ensure students and staff are as safe as possible when walking alone at night:
- Ensure campus is well-lit at all times and all locations
- Provide buddy services to get students to their homes safely, such as the SafeWalks system at the University of Illinois
- Have emergency alert systems throughout campus
- Offer school shuttles or other transportation services at night
The best way to learn is by doing, and the same goes for learning necessary safety practices. Students coming out of K-12 have, unfortunately, years of practice with lockdowns and other safety threats. But practices and procedures on campus are different than in a K-12 environment.
Residence halls and dorms should practice emergency procedures at the beginning of every semester. These procedures should cover fire drills, active shooter drills, and drills for the natural disasters that are most common in the area. Practicing what to do in an emergency ensures students will be prepared if that emergency does ever occur.
Moreover, faculty and staff should be well-versed in the safety procedures for any classroom or building in which they meet with students.
Speed Read (tldr) of 4 Tips to Boost Campus Safety
Empower Student Safety Awareness: Colleges should educate students on essential safety strategies, such as avoiding walking alone at night and reporting suspicious behavior, through workshops, signage, and orientation programs.
Enhance Nighttime Safety Resources: Institutions need to implement proactive measures for student safety at night, including improved campus lighting, buddy systems, emergency alert systems, and nighttime transportation options.
Regular Drills and Student Feedback: Conduct frequent emergency drills for students and staff, and actively seek student feedback on safety practices to continuously improve campus security measures.
