Work Of Campus Security Task Force Progressing

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The work of an Oklahoma task force created to examine security on the state's college campuses is moving faster and smoother than expected, the state's higher education chancellor

Thursday, August 30th 2007, 3:16 pm

By: News On 6


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The work of an Oklahoma task force created to examine security on the state's college campuses is moving faster and smoother than expected, the state's higher education chancellor said Thursday.

Chancellor Glen Johnson said after the second meeting of the Campus Life and Safety Security Task Force that its final report should be finished by sometime in December, ahead of the Jan. 15 deadline set by Governor Brad Henry.

Henry created the group following the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech University, where mentally troubled student gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people before killing himself. The task force's meeting Thursday came on the morning after an eight-member panel appointed by Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine issued a report on the Virginia Tech shooting after a four-month investigation.

The meeting consisted primarily of status reports by subcommittees charged with exploring issues raised by the Virginia Tech shootings, including notification of interested parties on- and off-campus, emergency response methods, counseling for mental health and other issues, how to ensure laws and policies are properly followed and how to obtain funding for campus security.

"What we've seen here today is these subcommittees are drilling down and getting to the substance and meat of these issues," Johnson said. "This is going to be a report that I think deals with some positive recommendations for our system in terms of providing for better safety and security for our students in higher education and career tech.

"We want it to be more than just a response to specific situations, but instead a much more comprehensive approach to an issue that we have a tremendous responsibility (for) to our students and our parents."

The 14-member task force also includes university officials; superintendents from career technology centers; Kerry Pettingill, the state director of homeland security; Terri White, the state mental health commissioner; and Phil Berkinbile, the director of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

Pettingill said the task force is asking all Oklahoma higher education institutions to provide a self-assessment of campus security and vulnerability to acts of terrorism by Sept. 14. One of the goals of those assessments, he said, is to "establish a baseline as to what is the minimum a campus should have ... at a minimum, it gets us thinking about things that can be corrected at no cost."

One of the major criticisms leveled in the Virginia Tech report was the lack of speed shown in notifying the campus that two students had been shot to death. It took administrators more than two hours to get out an e-mail warning to students and staff to be cautious, giving the gunman time to enter a classroom building and continue his deadly rampage.

Tulsa Community College President Thomas McKeon, whose subcommittee is examining notification issues, said communicating information to interested audiences – both on-campus and off-campus -- is critical during times of emergency. He suggested that a workshop to let schools know what technology is available to use would be helpful.

He also noted the importance of using "low-tech" devices including sirens, loudspeakers and flags, both to back up and accent high-tech notification systems.

University of Central Oklahoma President Roger Webb – whose campus hosted a National Campus Security Summit in May -- said his school has prepared an emergency procedure folder that is located in every office and classroom.

"These things unfold in a matter of seconds," Webb said. "Whenever emergencies happen at your place it's something that's unexpected and that you haven't planned for. The best thing you can do is to go through these planning scenarios and at least have a team in place that's ready to advise you, to get the best information you can quickly.”

"You're going to be under the microscope forever, and just to sit here at this point, with all the knowledge that we have is almost certainly negligence on any administrator's part or any institution's part not to have done something."
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