The Virginia Tech massacre puts new emphasis on security at U.S. universities. UT is already revamping security procedures after miscommunication brought questions about the University’s response to the Gasparilla sexual assault. President Vaughn commissioned a Security Study Group (SSG) to examine UT’s policies, specifically how UT complies with the Clery Act.
Rod Plowman, vice president of administrative services, and Linda Devine, vice president of operations and planning, met with The Minaret to discuss the security issues in the March 30 briefing to President Vaughn and how prepared UT is for an incident like at Virginia Tech.
Security is what everyone is talking about now after Virginia Tech, Devine said.
“We have an Emergency Operations Plan and Emergency Operations Team,” Plowman said.
“It is a general set of guidelines we are to follow. It’s for a variety of instances. It could be a hurricane, flood, chemical spill or fire,” Plowman said.
They have had that for over 12 years, and they have an EOP workshop each year in May or June.
Plowman said there are security measures that they do not talk about because it would hinder effectiveness.
No further details were given about the plan.
After Virginia Tech happened, Plowman attended a community meeting with Tampa Fire and Rescue, Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Offices, Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida to discuss protocols and procedures.
“I went after the meeting to see if [the community] would work with us. They said sure. But, these are generally things we wouldn’t speak about publicly,” Plowman said.
Vaughn released a global e-mail lauding the SSG for proposed changes and changes already made. No specific details were set forth in the e-mail.
The brief focused on policy disclosure, records collection and retention, and information dissemination, Devine said.
“Because we didn’t go forward and say anything, people think there is something really bad there or otherwise we would have laid it out. That’s not the case,” Plowman said.
He said the administration did not want to provide only parts of the report.
Among the changes made include the daily crime log and the campus boundaries map. Also, the University is close to compiling all policies and procedures into one binder.
“The report number assignment log” became “the daily crime log” because that is the title the Clery Act preferred, Plowman said.
In reference to the “confidential” incident in the Police Log sent to The Minaret that turned out to be the Gasparilla dorm rape, Plowman said he could find no evidence that anybody was trying to hide anything.
“I really believe it was just an honest mistake,” Plowman said.
The group also changed sections of website and the campus map.
“We probably need some text around [the report disclosing all the crime statistics on the website],” Devine said.
The campus map for crime reporting was shifted to groupings of academic buildings and residences to distinguish campus boundaries for crime reporting.
Students, trustees and faculty provided over 100 discussions to the SSG after Vaughn’s global e-mail included their email addresses.
Some students complained about the Brevard Hall fire alarm frenzy earlier this month.
“We realized in Straz Hall there were two incidences. A fire extinguished was set off, and it was a real alarm.
A second one was a student decided to pull a false alarm. They pulled the cover, and the RA walked out in the hall, saw the guy and they caught him,” Plowman said.
The University responded to the fire alarms by buying glass casings that lift up and sound a horn when pulled.
After lifting the case, a horn sounds alerting others the alarm was pulled, and then the individual must pull the actual fire alarm or risk being caught. The casings are present in Straz, Brevard and will be in Austin and Kennedy soon.
“It’s a form of retro-fitting. We can’t be in a position to jeopardize people’s safety over something this silly,” Plowman said.
“This just isn’t something we started last week or last month. We’re always looking for ways to minimize risks for people,” Devine said.
She said the Virginia Tech incident prompted responses from external sources as well, especially parents.
The safety alert system was changed to draw more attention from students.
“In the past when we did safety alerts, it wasn’t as structured as we think it needs to be,” Plowman said.
They now use yellow paper, posting and expirations dates, tips and bold type.
The SSG changed the common damages e-mail address to not be the only place to report vandalism and other issues but other offenses.
“We didn’t have a good reporting mechanism,” Devine said.
The SSG created a silent witness email address that is anonymous. Students can report a crime or issue through the UT website.
Last semester they worked with students to discuss a text messaging alert system, Spartan Mobile Alert (SMART).
The students responded unfavorably last fall. After Virginia Tech, student feelings have changed.
“Now we’re ready to go with it,” Plowman said.
“It’s free. You can opt in or out anytime you want,” Plowman said. Cell phone plans that charge per text message will cost money for students.
Using text message is just one way to tap into students.
“I think we need to capitalize on the way [students] are talking to each other, not the way we talked to each other,” Devine said.
They were going to release the program June 1 but will probably move forward earlier.
Vaughn also requested an outline for a more comprehensive report on May 30.
They are considering how to release the information to students about the May 30 report.
The report will focus on incident and victim response, safety education and programming and internal and external communication.
“Originally we were going to separate [internal and external communication], but it has become apparent you can’t separate those,” Devine said.
The two SSG chairpersons are pleased with the results so far.
“I think probably the first part of the report is satisfying,” Devine said.
“I like it because the time forced us to drop other priorities and get serious about what we were doing. To me, it’s really been beneficial to look at how we do safety alerts,” Plowman said.
“It’s hard because you have to drop the other stuff, but to me, it’s been good.”
