Emergency Text Notification Planned At University
Program Considered Prior to Virginia Tech Shootings
Last updated Wednesday, August 22, 2007 9:10 PM CDT in News
By Dan Craft
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas has already implemented some security measures suggested in a report on the Virginia Tech University massacre, and are working on more, Arkansas officials said Wednesday.
The Virginia Tech report, complied by representatives from departments across that campus, is a response to the April shooting rampage that left 32 students and faculty dead, plus the gunman.
"The grim reality is that such a senseless, random act by an individual set on doing harm can happen anywhere, any time. We're not immune to such dangers at the University of Arkansas, which is an open, public campus," said Tysen Kendig, vice chancellor for university relations. "While we have avoided taking extreme reactionary steps in light of the crisis in Blacksburg, our efforts in the arena of student safety have been ongoing."
Many university security and incident-management procedures were reviewed and updated after a murder-suicide at Kimpel Hall in 2000, said Lt. Gary Crain of the police department.
Some security steps, such as round-the-clock patrols and video surveillance of residence halls, are already in place at Arkansas, Kendig said.
NorthWest Arkansas Community College has never recorded a shooting incident or other large-scale threat, Dick Nelson, director of campus security, told college trustees last month.
An outside assessment of the college's security situation included recommendations that threats be posted on the school's Web site and patrol vehicles be equipped with flashing lights and police logos to make them more visible.
At the university, an emergency alert system to contact students and faculty via e-mail and text messages has been under consideration since before the Virginia Tech shootings, and should be online this fall, Kendig said.
The system will replace the telephone-based alert system currently utilized by university police, Crain said.
"The main drawback is that it's slow," Crain said. "Dialing the numbers, waiting through the rings, trying the next one, is a time consuming process. Text and e-mail can go out to everyone instantaneously."
The Virginia Tech panel recommended classrooms be equipped with doors that can be locked from the inside and that needs additional study, Crain said.
"That's a lot of doors on campus, which is quite an undertaking, and there are still questions," Crain said. "In theory, those doors could be locked to keep police out when they need to be able to get in."
Card-key access to buildings, another recommendation at Virginia Tech, was installed this summer at all University of Arkansas dorms, replacing a swipe-card system that utilized student identification cards. Such access to academic and administration buildings, recommended by the Virginia Tech panel, is not planned at Arkansas, Kendig said.
The university also has trained mental health counselors who can intervene if housing or other officials determine a student poses a threat, Johnathan Perry, director of counseling at the university health center, said previously. There is no dedicated team of mental health professionals, university officials and police to determine threat levels, a step recommended in the Virginia Tech report.
Perry did not return messages left at his office Wednesday.
AT A GLANCE
Campus Mental Health
University of Arkansas students who want to talk with a counselor for any reason can make an appointment at Counseling and Psychological Services, in the Pat Walker Health Center, 575-5276.
Source: Staff Report
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