Guns, Civility and Campus Safety

The recent horrible events at Northern Illinois have led to many people asking for a reprint of my 2006 article on campus safety, Making Your Campus Safer Starting Today: Objective Correlatives, Broken Windows and Customer Service: 10 Steps to Increase the Feeling and Reality of Security on Campus. I am disheartened have to respond and reprint it here. The horror at NIU is too vivid to think about. The ideas in my piece may help but the reality is we need to look at something much more basic. We can do all we can to respond to these incidents on campus. We can do all we can to make the campuses more secure as I discuss in the article. But until we address the core issue, we will not stop these slaughters or the daily killings on our streets that will lead to our campuses.

In my forthcoming book The Power of Retention I discuss how the same students and people who live off campus come to our campuses everyday. The same issues that are reported in the metro section of our thinning newspapers walk onto our campuses, through our halls and into our classrooms everyday. We cannot escape the issues of society. So we need to face them head on and demand that we do something about these issues. We have to be there showing students and others the way to create greater civility and safety on our campuses and society.

The first issue that needs to be addressed is at the core of all shootings – guns and us. It used to be that we would read about people on campus shooting their mouths off at one another. And we would sort of look the other way and keep shuffling along. Then we shot our academic mouths off over guns but well we had other things to do like get a job so we let the mouths fall silent. And now, we don’t talk about the core issues of guns and our indifference to them and the people they kill because, well, they are not us.

Let’s realize that the people who died at NIU, Virginia Tech, Columbine and elsewhere died because people shot their GUNS off, not their mouths. Guns killed the people. Without the guns, people would still be alive.

We do have an opportunity now to get people to focus on the core issues of guns and us. We are in an election year. Candidates want our votes. The college age vote is central to any candidate getting elected this year. I ask every one of us to challenge the candidates of ALL and ANY office on their stance of at least handguns and automatic weapons. The ones that kill people not animals. If the candidate hedges or says he is in favor of individuals other than law enforcement officials having handguns or automatic weapons – shoot your mouth off and do not vote for them.

You like to go hunting. Well, that's your thing and do it safely. But handguns and automatic weapons? Only for hunting people. And the current laws? The NIU killer got guns legally.

And about ourselves. Caring, respecting and valuing others is a basic customer service and the central issue to civility. If you do not feel upset when someone shoots another on or off campus, then don’t claim to care please. People are dying on campus yes and that is horrible. But there are people who are being killed daily in parts of our cities, suburban and rural areas everyday too. They are just as important as those on campus. Their deaths are as real as those of our colleagues. Their families mourn with as deep a grief as anyone on campus. Their bodies are as dead as any shot in a classroom. They are as important as any one on campus is and we should care.

We need to realize that being in college does not allow you or any of us to just be concerned about what happens on our campus but on all the campuses of life. Shoot your mouth off about the value of all people and then treat every one even people you may not yet know with dignity and value.

Here’s a simple start. I know some will say it is dumb and will not stop slaughters in the classroom. They are right. My 10 suggestions below will do a better job on that. But it will help make life better for an important person - you. You will actually have a chance to make the world better even if it is just one small, one miniscule piece at a time.

1 Shoot your mouth off over guns. Make gun control an issue for candidates

2. Smile at every person you walk by and say”hello”. Just a simple “hello”. You’ll be surprised and pleased at the result. Some people will smile and say hello back. Nice feeling to have your value recognized even by stranger. The stranger is you by the way; not the other person. You take the action. More of the value of saying hello is in the article below and how it can help keep a campus safer. But here I want to simply stress the value of recognizing another. Many people kill others because they do not believe any one cares or values them so they reciprocate by not valuing others. Peoples’ murders become just a means of making a statement. We can replace that statement with another through hello.

3. Follow Good Academic Service Culture Principle 8

8. Just because someone else did a dis-service

or harm does not relieve you of correcting the injury.

Hey, I don’t even go to NIU. Right. You did not pull the trigger of a gun but that does not relieve you of the responsibility to heal the wounds to civility, social and personal well being the actual bullets caused.

3. Start today and DO SOMETHING Most people who read this blog are faculty, administrators and staff in higher education. We are in a position to do something. We can influence students and others. We can be the leaders on building greater civility on our campuses and in our societies. Recall why you became involved in higher education. Part of that was likely to be involved in building a better world and culture. Here is an opportunity to do that. Start by smiling and greeting your students in class and the halls. Engage students with a smile and shoot your mouth off about guns and civility with them. Maybe not in class because that is not what the classroom is supposed to be about perhaps but perhaps in the cafeteria, the halls, everywhere students are. Go to them. Smile and say hello then engage them in discussion about the issues of guns and civility.

Be a change agent. And if I can help, let me know. I will do all I can to help out.

HERE IS THE REPRINT. Making Your Campus Safer Starting Today. Click here

If you'd like me to send you a copy of the 15 Principles of Good Academic Customer Service, just let me know. Be glad to do so. Just ask you share them with others. Click here

AcademicMAPS has been providing customer service, retention and research training and solutions to colleges, universities and career colleges in the US, Canada, and Europe as well as to businesses that seek to work with them since 1999. Clients range from small rural schools to major urban universities and corporations. Its services range from campus customer service audits; workshops, training, presentations, institutional studies and surveys to research on customer service and retention. AcademicMAPS prides itself on its record of success for its clients and students who are aided through the firm’s services. www.GreatServiceMatters.com 413.219.6939 info@GreatServiceMatters.com

Campus Safety 2 - Unwanted People on Campus

This emailed question on campus safety came in today. Thought I'd share it with everyone as well as my response.

Thanks a million for getting in touch. I thoroughly enjoyed (and learned from) your talks – they should give you the whole day next time!

I have one question regarding safety. I arrived late to your breakout session because my clock was still on Central time!

Our campus is in an urban environment, and the buildings are generally open 24/7. As a result, we have itinerant / homeless people who seek shelter and sometimes food. Luckily, our police department is right across the street, and we instruct our students to phone them immediately if there is a suspicious or threatening person around.

My question is – are you aware of any other strategy we may pursue to keep people out of our buildings who have no reason to be there? I feel terrible creating an effort to push out the poor folk who have nowhere else to go, but we have to make sure this is a safe environment for our students.

Here is my response:

You may want to start with my earlier article on campus safety that the FBI is also using.
It may have some good ideas for you too.

Keeping people who shouldn't be there off campus including the homeless. That is a tough one because of the good nature and strong sense of justice or injustice of academics. It goes against our sense to evict the homeless or most anyone from a campus even if we know that we possibly should. This is especially increased if the school cannot or will not help itself by having students self-identify even in a passive way by wearing id cards. This situation is usually most common on a university with a large campus with many points of entry and view thus increasing the problem of uncontrolled entry.

So what to do? Well, on the homeless question, and not to seem hard hearted but… Here’s an idea. They need to be either moved off campus completely or the college can create an area that is actually designated for use by the homeless. The area should be one in which the security people can create an entry and exit that they can gain some control over. The homeless or others who wish to use the area must sign-in in some manner, be provided some identity badge or tag similar to what many museums use to identify those who have paid and must stay in this area. If they leave the area without notifying someone where they are going to and obtain an okay, they must be escorted off the campus and told they lose privileges to return and use the area for a period of time.

Just one thought and a couple more that may or may not be practical for your school.

The college may want to make an arrangement with some local shelters to bring the homeless from the college to the shelter. Work with the shelter people and others in the city. Set up a scheduled bus or van that will take the homeless to the shelter and let them know about it. They may start to use the transportation and thus leave the campus. This approach will keep many on the campus feeling as if you are helping them and so you are.

Otherwise the campus has to be made unfortunately inhospitable to non-college related people who might come on to it, at least at certain times during the day, like at night perhaps. This can be done by removing homeless or others when they are noticed. Having them move on rather than staying in one location as they do tend to cluster together. Be made to move all the time will make them seek a place where they can just stay put longer. Not friendly yes, but it can increase safety if they are an issue.

I also want to add another thought. College campuses attract non-students who may not have learning but illegal earning on their minds too. Thieves know that universities and colleges are easy pickings for them. Students and the college community are notoriously lax and even sloppy about being concerned for their goods and belongings. Students will often drop their backpacks, computers, books etc on a table in the cafeteria or outside the library, athletic facilities, etc. and trust that no one will touch them. Unfortunately, they do not always have a good basis for their trust.

Since it is so easy for thieves and others to gain entry to buildings, they can also “blend in” and assume even if they stand out, no one will bother them at most campuses. They have easy access to all the facilities such as those above. A quick tour of the cafeteria or other student areas will present numerous opportunities to steal stuff and walk off.

Even dorms are wide open to thieves or worse. At most any dorm, all a person needs to do is case out the doors students use to avoid the front entrance. Then they just some up behind a student going in and walk in behind them. They can even just yell out “hey hold the door!” and most students will do so. Since so many students leave their doors unlocked or even open, their belongings become easy pickings. Jewelry, laptops, money, ipods are easily picked up and stolen. And with one success, comes the recognition of many more.

The secret is to make these easily stolen items less accessible. If it is difficult to steal things, the dorm be comes a less desirable target for larcenies. If thieves come to the dorm less often, that will also cut down on other possible problems simply by their not being there.

Okay. How to do this?

I recommend that schools look at providing students with devices such as lockable safes such as some hotels provide in the rooms. These safes could also be placed in areas that students leave stuff lying around like cafeterias, libraries, bookstores…

There is a company I am aware of that provides a good product that can be leased or bought and even has plans that let schools make money on their safes to cover the costs. The company is SafePlace.USA. They have both individual and stacked safes that lock securely and even have electrical power inside to charge laptops and other electrical devices. Schools that have used them have cut down on thefts and crime. I have met with the principal

I hope I have provided some thoughts. This is a tough one since I do not know the campus and its culture etc. It is also a tough one until something happens and then I fear there will be an over reaction.

You may also want to take a look at the website of Security on Campus. This is the web of the good people who took a tragedy and turned it into a tragedy that helps thousands of others. They are the Jeanne Clery organization that pushed the federal crime on campus reporting act The Clery Act through. This is the act that requires schools to report crime on campus and it has been helpful. Though as we have seen recently many colleges ...well, they do not report fully. Uhhh.... they are frugal with the truth... They... well, they lie! And when they get caught. Well, just ask the ex-president of EMU!

FBI Uses AcademicMAPS Campus Safety Article

Wow. I am rather excited and honored. I have just found out that the FBI Office of Law Enforcement Coordination is using my recent article and posting 10 Steps to Creating a More Secure Campus in their work with colleges and universities to make campuses more secure. I had always thought I’d hear from the FBI about some stuff I was involved in during the late sixties … But to have them use one of my articles to help schools!!

That piece has become one of the most requested ones we’ve put out in a long while. It has also been republished and circulated at at least 28 schools, colleges and universities that I am aware of. We get requests to use most every posting and article but is apparent CAMPUS SAFETY IS A BIG RETENTION ISSUE. If you haven’t made clearly overt moves to increase at least the perception of safety on campus, you may be want to get on it now.

To read the piece used by the FBI, just click here

Making Your Campus Safer Starting Today

Making Your Campus Safer Starting Today

Objective Correlatives, Broken Windows and Customer Service: 10 Steps to Increase the Feeling and Reality of Security on Campus

The horrendous events at Virginia Tech have led to a number of inquiries on campus safety and retention going forward. There are no good answers for what happened. For the parents, families and the Virginia Tech community there will just be questions and anger. I know, unfortunately. We lost our 26 year-old son to meningitis just over a year ago. We deal with questions and anger over his death and so we know the emotions of the entire VTU community will be running very high. We also know that when others know of our loss, they worry more about their own children. The tragedy will affect every parent with a student on a campus. They will look at their own students and your campus with a very protective and wary eye.

So how can we reduce some of the vehemence over safety and security services that will be felt on every campus? An intensity that will be felt by every administrator and board member. Parents and the media are going to want to know how your school will make certain their child is safe on your campus. And keep in mind that articles like the Wall Street Journal’s October 2006 piece in the FBI Stats Show Many Colleges Understate Campus Crime will be likely kept in front of the media and public as they should be.

This is a time when a policy statement or reprinting brochures on campus safety on campus will not due. People will want action, visible signs that the school is taking steps to make the campus even more secure. If the campus is safe, great. But parents are going to want even more safety, assurance, and visible actions.

Safety as a Metaphor

Visible is an important word here. What comes into play is the concept of the objective correlative. The campus as a physical metaphor for the tone and atmosphere that defines a sense of security, safety and control. Since we all, and particularly our students, think metaphorically, buildings, grounds, bathrooms, interiors and all that is visible inside become metaphors, statements of meaning and values just as objects in a poem set the tone and add to perception of meaning.

Small things and small events can also add to the symbolism that adds up to the appreciation of students and parents that safety, security and protection are in place. That the campus and dorms are as safe as they can be.

So, and without cynicism, the appearances of safety are extremely important. The “Broken Window” approach that helped bring greater sense of security and some argue real safety increases to NYC in the 1990’s, will help here too. The theory was developed by Wilson and Kelling in 1982. It goes something like this. If someone breaks a window in a building and that first broken window in the building is not repaired, people will assume that no one cares about the building. Therefore it is okay to break more windows because no one seems to care. So more windows will be broken. Soon the building will have no windows. It is also likely doors will be busted in and more crime and havoc done to the building. But if the first window is fixed and re-fixed if needed, that action is a statement that we do care and window breaking will not be accepted. The appearance becomes a reality in peoples’ minds.

I was a skeptic of this approach at first when Police Chief Bill Bratton had the NYC police stop the homeless windshield washers from trying to earn a buck cleaning peoples’ car windows at traffic lights, enforcing public nuisance laws, public drinking, littering and so on. But it seems that the enforcement of these nuisance crimes created a metaphor for safety and enforcement for NYC. People believed the City and the NYPD cared. The feeling seemed to be “if they were attentive to small nuisance crimes that made me feel uneasy, they must be really be doing a solid job on real crime. People and tourists began to feel safer. They were not afraid to be out in the City. Tourism increased as did the public’s sense of security. And real crime did drop too. (There are arguments as to whether or not the “broken window and zero tolerance” were the factor but NYC did become recognized nationally as one of the safest cities anywhere.

When I was Chancellor at a college, we employed a version of the “broken window theory”. We had a rash of books, I Pods, purses, computers and other personal items being stolen from students and staff. People were becoming uneasy about their safety in buildings as a result. They also assumed the administration was not doing anything to make them more secure. Word was going out to the community that the school was not a safe one. Enrollment and retention were being hurt.

We were working on it but people didn’t realize it nor care. They just felt unsafe. We finally caught a book thief who gave us names of others he was working with. We called in the police to take them all out of the building in the lunch hour for maximum exposure. I also called a college meeting, canceled classes so students could come, and made some announcements on how and what we were doing to make sure they knew they were safe. We hired three more security people for the building, were changing all locks on doors, enforcing the locked door policy when a room was empty, would randomly check college ID cards and anyone without the card would be escorted off campus, putting in place a parking sticker registration and any car without a displayed sticker would be towed, increasing light bulb wattage in parking and perimeter lights and would not tolerate inappropriate language or behavior in classrooms, halls cafeteria, library, etc.

Faculty were asked to make sure attendance was taken, late students not admitted without prior notice, any student who left the class would not be allowed back in and marked absent, anyone sleeping in class was to be ejected, cell phones were to be off in class and if your's rang you would be asked to leave for the day and not come back in, computers were to be used for class purposes and not web surfing during class, and so on. And I personally assured faculty that I would support them in enforcing all this as long as they applied classroom decorum fairly, without prejudice and consistently,

Within days, surveys, comments and interviews showed the campus was a different place. Students were thankful for our steps. They felt more secure and happier at the school. They were most pleased with classroom decorum enforcement since it changed the learning environment. Students felt inappropriate classroom behavior was cheating them. They were learning less as bad behavior interrupted class and the professor. One student summed it up well. “Now we see you do give a damn about us and our learning and we care more about the school now too. I was outa here at the end of semester but I’ll stay now.”

Broken Window Theory on Campus

Considering the various constituencies and the politics on a campus, having the campus police/security enforce every rule will not necessarily work. For a few days, maybe even weeks, the community might accept greater enforcement, but that will end soon though the admonitions of administration’s “oppression of academic or other campus freedoms” will continue as a part of tradition. So what needs to be worked on is the objective correlatives that will be accepted and create a visible and real increased sense if security for students, parents and the community.

Ten Quick Yet Effective Security Steps

1. Have all employees learn how to say hello, smile and ask others how they are doing once they enter the “greeting zone.” As if they mean it. Also, teach them how to follow-up less than positive responses from others. This is important. The school must indicate it cares about each student to increase a collective sense of comfort through caring. This is also quite important for many reasons from identifying upset students to showing you care to learn what can be done to improve customer services and increase retention.

2. Stop petty theft on campus i.e. stolen books, I Pods, computers, purses, etc. This is for students and staff as well. There is apparently a great new product on the market to help on this too. A company named SafePlace www.safeplace-usa.com has personal safes for students and staff to keep their personal stuff in whether they are in a dorm or set-up like lockers for commuters. They seem to be very effective too as stated by the Long Island University Director of Residence Life and Residences,

Student reports of lost/stolen personal property have been eliminated and reimbursement costs to the University have been eliminated as well…dealing with issues of lost/stolen property in the residence halls has been substantially eliminated….Parents have been fully supportive of this product to secure their students’ belongings.

SafePlace can also make financial arrangements that can even create revenue for schools while increasing safety. And don't overlook the value of these small safes in offices so staff can secure their personal belongings.

3. Fix every broken light on campus and increase lighting in parking lots, pathways, halls and lobbies. Nothing generates a sense of fear than dark areas. Yes, I am fully aware that lighting wattage has been lowered to save money. Calculate the cost of the lighting against revenue lost from drops who feel unsafe on campus. Consider also the size of your evening college and the revenue it generates that IS lost when adults are nervous to park and walk. (Be glad to send a past article on lighting and retention I wrote just after 9/11. nealr@GreatServiceMatters.com)

4. Increase security patrols on foot and in cars. Park patrol cars not in service at the time in entrance areas to parking lots and other visible spots.
Make sure the halls are clean and uncluttered. Remove old posters, fliers and certainly anything ripped or scribbled over.

5. Either wash off or paint over any graffiti particularly in bathrooms. There is graffiti resistant paint that can help out in this area.

6. Consider having all staff and students wearing college id’s so it will be easy to determine if someone is not a member of the college community.

7. Do not ignore the safety needs and concerns of staff. They will be the ones to project a sense, a feeling as well as the metaphoric reality of safety and security on campus. If they are nervous or afraid their personal belongings may be stolen, they will surely project that to everyone around them.

8. Get out of the office, walk the campus and listen to students, staff and the community. Keep in mind that G-d gave us two ears but just one mouth for a reason. They will feel safer if you are out among them. Listening to them can also alleviate quite a bit of anxiety which often comes out of the feeling that the school does not care about them individually.

9. But also use the mouth G-d gave you. Email and fliers too. Let the community know you care and are doing things to increase an already safe campus. Communicate changes and improvements.

10. Have a campus safety and comfort audit conducted. There may be things that are problematic that you and other community members may not notice. This is the worn rug theory in action. It goes like this. When we were buying a house, we often noticed that the rugs were worn down or out. But the seller's did not notice. Why not? We are animals of patterned, habitual behavior so they had walked the same paths in the house every day. Rugs wear out incrementally from constant foot traffic over the same area. But since it was incremental, a little every day, they did not notice the wear pattens that we could easily see. They overlooked the wear and missed the potentially problematic situation. After all, it had always looked the same to them. It might be worthwhile to bring in a new set of eyes to look for rug problems that you and others grow to just overlook because it developed over time and now looks like it was always like that