Get a behind-the-scenes look at the admissions process from Kris Anderson, the UWEC admissions director

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

safety first

Hi All - As I was listening to NPR on the drive in to work this morning, I was reminded that today is the anniversary of the Columbine shootings. Although Columbine sticks in many of our minds, the sad fact is that violence in schools is not a new phenomenon - in fact, the deadliest school violence occurred in 1927 in Bath, Michigan when a bombing left 45 people dead.

We are asked about campus safety frequently when talking to prospective students and parents. They are not necessarily interested in crime statistics - although some are - but rather are asking the basic question of whether their daughter or son will be safe.

Last year, I served on a campus working group called the Emergency Response Team. The ERT has been testing and implementing a variety of protocols in case of a campus emergency. So far, we are finding that a combination of both high-tech and low-tech methods are effective in alerting the campus community to any kind of emergency - weather, human, etc. For example, we now have cell phones registered to send text messages; Voice over Internet Protocol phones which can display an alarm; an emergency screen that displays on our computers; loudspeakers in all buildings; and emergency messages that can be piped through our fire alarm system. For more information: http://emergency.uwec.edu/

Our campus police http://www.uwec.edu/police/index.htm works in tandem with the larger Eau Claire city police to respond to various emergencies and then, of course, less serious campus issues. Our campus has emergency phone in parking lots, an escort service for late-night walking assistance, locked residence halls, and lots of programming for safe choices regarding alcohol use and sexual encounters.

It's next to impossible to prepare for or prevent every random possibility. And we all need to use common sense as individuals. But I hope parents and students know that we take their safety very seriously and want the next 4 years of their lives to be healthy, challenging, productive, and safe ones.

Kris

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