Higher education institutions are responsible for creating a culture that puts education front and center while prioritizing the ongoing safety of students and faculty. This isn’t easy. Administrators face unique challenges that require a multi-layered approach to campus safety and security.
Universities, community colleges, and trade schools face safety obstacles not found within elementary and high schools. They’re larger and often include multiple buildings such as learning facilities, dorms, and student community centers. This results in vulnerable spaces where violence or medical emergencies could potentially occur.
Colleges also have larger student and faculty populations and host regular events that bring visitors onto the campus. Managing the safety of all these people turns into a logistical headache without the right safety and response measures in place.
These challenges demand a higher education campus safety solution designed specifically for rapid response—a combination of safety technology and planning. Only then can schools create a culture of safety.
The State of Safety on College Campuses
Unfortunately, students, parents, and teachers face the harsh reality that violence occurs in many forms on college campuses. It happens in public and private areas and can be targeted or random.
But there’s a silver lining—by analyzing trends and behaviors, schools can make informed decisions that lead to safer environments that address students’ fears.
Common Safety Concerns on Campuses
Many young people think about the threat of violence and school safety as they prepare to enter college. This is a stressful and often intimidating time, especially if a student plans on moving far from home to attend school.
One study by Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL), who helps students prepare and enroll for college, found that 62 percent of the 10,000 12th-graders surveyed felt worried about their safety at school. Other research indicates that prospective students and parents consider campus safety during the college selection process.
Understanding students’ specific campus safety and security concerns provides more insight. A report from Clery Center highlights safety concerns and uncovers which issues pose the most threat. It found that 82 percent of college students are concerned about their personal safety, and 97 percent consider their personal safety while on campus.
The most common concerns include:
- Gun violence
- Harassment and discrimination
- Hate crimes
- Hazing
- Property crimes
- Dating violence
- Sexual assault
- Stalking and cyberstalking
- Mental health issues
It’s important to note that not all student safety issues are crimes. But that doesn’t mean they won’t result in serious harm. Many of the safety issues mentioned above go unreported or overlooked.
Rates of Violence on College Campuses
Understanding students’ campus safety and security concerns gives colleges a solid foundation for taking preventive measures. It’s also imperative to acknowledge the prevalence of campus crime and why some schools experience more than others.
The 2024 College Campus Crime Report and Statistics by SafeHome.org collected crime statistics for over 600 schools with enrollments of at least 5,000 students. Their analysis found that 86 percent of schools reported violent acts on campus, with a total of 9,727 violent crimes taking place on campuses in 2022.
The report also revealed that colleges with higher crime rates tend to be located in densely populated urban areas. Many schools with lower crime rates were community colleges with a large percentage of students commuting to school each day.
The Institute of Education Sciences’ Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety sheds more light on the prevalence of certain types of crimes seen at colleges.
Results from the report include:
- 18 active shooter incidents occurred between 2000 and 2022 at postsecondary institutions, resulting in 157 casualties.
- 23,426 criminal incidents against persons and property on campuses of postsecondary institutions were reported in 2021. These incidents included:
- Forcible sex offenses (44 percent)
- Burglaries (28 percent)
- Motor vehicle thefts (15 percent)
- Hate crimes (3 percent)
While the report revealed a decrease in some types of incidents, the severity of crimes like active shooter situations keeps safety top-of-mind for college administrators. In addition, forcible sex offenses increased between 2011 and 2021, indicating a need for more proactive campus safety and security measures.
Factors That Make Campus Public Safety Difficult
Successful campus safety and security measures don’t only protect teachers and staff. They promote the well-being of all visitors and the surrounding community.
The infrastructure of college campuses poses a unique challenge that requires a more comprehensive approach to school safety than that of K-12 schools. Higher education institutions must consider several factors when developing campus public safety plans and emergency response protocols.
- Open and Expansive Campuses: Most colleges, universities, and technical schools have large or spread out campuses with many buildings. This can make it difficult to monitor activity and potentially slows down response times when an incident occurs. Open layouts also make schools easy to access.
- Large Student and Faculty Population: Colleges often have thousands of students, faculty members, and staff on campus each day. Maintaining visibility over everyone is nearly impossible. It also makes it challenging to locate visitors like third-party contractors or vendors while they’re onsite.
- Communication Obstacles: In an emergency, every second matters™. Responding to an incident is difficult with multiple buildings and long distances to cover. Other factors, like thick walls or older building materials that prevent phone signals or create connectivity issues, further complicate response efforts.
- Vulnerable Areas: Many areas on a college campus make students and faculty more vulnerable to violence or accidents. Safety plans must consider parking lots, dorms, labs, walkways, and community centers.
Even with these challenges, creating a successful campus public safety plan is achievable. It requires the right technology and reliable response protocols that consider all factors. The result is an environment that supports campus education and gives students and staff the peace of mind they deserve.
Improving Campus Safety
Federal laws uphold safety standards, so higher education institutions do everything in their power to prevent violence and increase incident response. The Clery Act is a perfect example of a law that works to keep students, faculty, and staff safe.
An Overview of The Clery Act
Passed in 1990, the Clery Act is a consumer protection law that requires colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to disclose crime data and publicly outline their safety policies and procedures.
Provisions of the Clery Act include:
- Annual Security Reporting: Colleges and universities must publish an annual security report (ASR) highlighting campus crime statistics for the preceding three years. ASRs must also outline the school’s efforts to improve safety and include policy statements regarding crime reporting, campus facility security and access, law enforcement authority, incidents of alcohol and drug use, and the prevention of sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.
- Crime Reporting: ASRs must include statistics for on-campus crimes as well as incidents that occur in on-campus student housing, on public property within the campus, on property adjacent to the campus, and in non-campus buildings used for educational purposes.
- Emergency Notifications: Schools must have emergency notification procedures in place. When a crime occurs, school officials must determine if there’s an ongoing threat to the campus community and decide if a warning is necessary.
- Victim Rights and Resources: Institutions must provide prevention and awareness programs to students and staff. They must also provide victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking with a written explanation of their rights, which include the options to relocate, change course assignments, and access counseling and legal services.
The Clery Act’s requirements hold schools accountable for campus safety and security measures and promote transparency regarding on-campus crimes. Colleges and universities that fail to adhere to the act’s provisions face fines, loss of funding, and legal consequences.
Campus Security and Safety Technology Supporting Higher Education
Colleges, universities, and technical schools are invaluable to the growth of communities and society. They offer unique environments that foster personal development, allowing individuals to pursue their dreams and career goals.
Schools must evolve to meet the needs of their student body and faculty to create a safe space where campus education is the focus. In a world where violence is inevitable, school leaders must invest in campus security and safety technology to address the challenges of higher learning institutions.
Tools such as wearable panic buttons allow faculty and staff members to discreetly alert administrators and campus security of an emergency or incident. This technology operates on private LoRaWAN and Bluetooth networks, independentally of Wi-Fi or cellular service, so there’s no risk of connectivity issues.
Digital mapping technology helps schools improve response times by pinpointing the location of an alert and displaying nearby safety assets. This reduces the time it takes first responders to locate an incident on large campuses with many buildings and helps them tailor their response.
Visitor management technology adds another layer of safety, allowing school administrators and campus security to monitor visitors on the property. For example, if independent contractors or other guests have restricted access to the campus, visitor management technology that utilizes wearable badges makes it easy to locate them in real time.
Campus Safety and Security Promote Student Recruitment
Students and their parents put a lot of thought into school selection. Campus safety and security is an important part of their decision-making process.
A school’s location, the quality of education it provides, and the type of degree a student intends to pursue are top factors students and parents think about. Campus violence is also on the minds of young people preparing to enter college; they ask many questions about campus safety:
- Does a campus have an emergency alert system?
- Is the school in a high-crime area?
- How does campus security patrol the school?
- What safety programs exist for students?
- Are faculty and staff required to undergo a background check?
- Do dorms have access control systems?
- Does the campus have adequate lighting at night?
- Are mental health services available?
Questions regarding a school’s crime rates are also common. That’s why it’s so essential for higher education institutions to publish their annual ASR on their website. Failing to do so could damage enrollment rates.
Creating a Culture of Safety
Higher education institutions taking a proactive approach to campus safety and security find success with innovative technology. One example is West Georgia Technical College, which has nearly 10,000 students and 600 faculty and staff across nine campuses. As a rural college, their safety concerns involve the ability to monitor the exteriors of many buildings across an expansive campus.
“The faster you can know what’s going on outside your buildings, the better you can control what goes on on the inside.” – James Perry, Chief of Police for WGTC
West Georgia Technical College took a holistic, multi-layered approach to campus safety, implementing wearable panic buttons, increasing police presence, designating safety team members, installing over 600 cameras, and creating vendor management policies.
CENTEGIX®: An Innovative Higher Education Campus Safety Solution
CENTEGIX understands the challenges facing higher education institutions when creating effective campus safety and security plans. Our innovative solutions allow schools to create safety protocols for vast campuses, multiple buildings, and large student and faculty populations.
The CENTEGIX Safety Platform™ is the foundation of a layered safety plan. It includes a wearable panic badge, digital mapping, real-time locating technology, and visitor management capabilities.
CrisisAlert™ is a wearable panic button that enables faculty and staff to get help anywhere on campus. The single-button activation is discreet, easy to use, and doesn’t require Wi-Fi or cellular service.
CENTEGIX Safety Blueprint™ is a dynamic digital mapping solution that helps schools improve safety planning, incident response, situational awareness, and communication with local authorities.
CENTEGIX Enhanced Visitor Management enables schools to locate visitors and record their activities in real time. It helps administrators or campus security know if visitors are in restricted areas so they can intervene before an incident occurs.
These safety solutions work together to reduce response times, improve collaboration with first responders, and create a culture of safety that attracts students and faculty to higher education institutions.
School Leaders and Safety Personnel Believe in CENTEGIX Solutions
Schools across the country rely on CENTEGIX to help them optimize their safety plans and bring peace of mind to students and staff. Our solutions help campus security personnel provide faster incident response and monitor all buildings and vulnerable spaces.
“The system has a very sophisticated mapping feature that allows responders to see exactly which room or hallway the emergency is coming from and from whom. In the event of a real active shooter, we could share this information with outside police agencies who may be coming to aid us.” – Paul Cordova, Police Chief, Aldine ISD, TX
CENTEGIX safety technology is fast, reliable, and easy to use. It integrates with existing infrastructure and safety investments, allowing schools to upgrade their safety plans with little to no interruption.
Meeting Requirements of The Clery Act
Collecting and reporting crime data is imperative for higher education institutions that must adhere to the Clery Act. The Safety Platform Dashboard streamlines this process by recording the details of every incident that occurs on a campus.
- Reports show who responded to campus alerts.
- Data sets show the types of alerts initiated during a given period.
- School leaders can quickly access alert history.
- Collected data enables informed resource allocation while developing campus safety plans.
In addition to helping schools meet the requirements of the Clery Act, CENTEGIX provides data insights that enable administrators to make regular improvements to their safety protocols and overall campus culture.
Improve Campus Safety and Security at Your School
If you’re an administrator of a higher education institution, you have the power to optimize campus safety and security protocols and create an environment where students and faculty can flourish.
Learn more about protecting your community with CENTEGIX campus safety solutions.
