Hazards Summit 2008: Lingering questions

As the second day gets underway at the EDUCAUSE Summit on campus security and emergency management, many lingering questions from the first day still remain, demonstrating the complexity of the problem at hand. While sharing insights at the close of Monday’s sessions, participants continued to comment on the need for greater information sharing and collaboration across institutions. “We have similar needs yet individual solutions,” one participant said, noting that campuses tend to develop their own solutions instead of leverage the wider community’s expertise. Universities need a way to share their needs so that their peers can see them and say, “We’re already working on it.”

Several participants commented on the unique place that colleges and universities hold in the debate. There might be a place for academic research into some of the issues with privacy and security. Or a push to develop universally accepted “best practices” that aren’t driven by vendor products. One suggested that larger associations, such as NACUBO and EDUCAUSE, should help campuses push the envelope, advocating for privacy and legal issues or developing material for campus administrators.

Technology is also emerging as a dominant theme. From imagining the ways that technology might support behavioral intervention teams to looking at the various ways that emerging social networking tools are changing notification, technology is interwoven throughout the conversation. Emergency response and preparation relies on a solid technical infrastructure, one person said, while another pointed out that, “Technology won’t matter unless you’ve taken care of the people part.”

There are still lingering questions to be further explored today:

• How do international programs – from study abroad to international students on campus – intersect with campus security planning? Are there issues specific to these programs? How do we mold process and policies to reach out to diverse groups, irrespective of language/cultural differences?
• How do we bring the message of campus security and emergency preparedness to all members of the institution? For instance, how do we engage the CIO or the provost? How can we bring all members to the table together?
• Are there ways to create resources that cut across institutions of different shapes and sizes?
• Our current technologies help us become more reactive to emergencies. How do we become more proactive?
• Much of our planning revolves around preparing for disasters, but the issues we deal with every day are centered on safety. How do we create a culture of safety and prevention?