Student Affairs

Safety on the Cornell Campus

The recent tragedy at Virginia Tech was shocking and saddening for all of us. Naturally, it has raised safety and response concerns at colleges across the country, including Cornell. We would be naïve to believe we are completely sheltered from the range of incidents that could occur, therefore we will review and strengthen our planning, communications, and support toward the goal of prevention.

Emergency Preparedness Planning
For the past 10 months, a campus committee has been rewriting Cornell’s Emergency Preparedness Plan. Their work will result in an approximately 75-page resource that outlines step-by-step responses to dozens of potential situations such as a tornado, power outage, chemical spill, fire, or armed subject.

Committee members have studied examples from other institutions and have participated in web seminars regarding crisis response and campus communication. In light of the recent events at Virginia Tech, the Emergency Preparedness Planning committee will reexamine relative crisis response plans incorporating difficult lessons learned from the that tragedy, take part in a web seminar about that event, and meet with a nationally renowned emergency preparedness consultant.

The rewritten plan will be reviewed and incorporated this summer. Appropriate staff members will be trained on the procedures. Table top exercises will be planned to fine-tune our plans. An overview of the Emergency Preparedness Plan will be posted on Cornell’s website and instructions on what to do in certain situations shared with community members.

Security
Cornell’s Office of Campus Safety provides security services to the campus 24-hours per day, seven days per week. The Campus Safety Office is located on the Ped Mall. All Campus Safety officers are trained in CPR, emergency procedures, and personal assistance. Campus Safety officers are constantly on the move on campus, in residence halls, academic buildings, and parking lots. They monitor activities, look for suspicious behavior, talk with campus community members, and respond to calls.

The Campus Safety staff has a close working relationship with the Mount Vernon Police Department. If there is a matter that requires a law enforcement response, MVPD responds quickly and effectively. Their police station is just two blocks from campus.

In the event of an emergency, 911 calls go directly to a Linn County dispatch operator who can activate responses from local police, fire and ambulance, and, as needed, area or county emergency responders including sheriff’s deputies, tactical teams, bomb squads, and triage units.

Safety Resources and Responses
In addition to 24 hour per day presence by Campus Safety staff, there is a Student Affairs staff member on call every evening and throughout the weekends to help mitigate or respond to incidents involving students. Also, three Residence Life staff members live in apartments inside the residence halls. And, nearly every residence hall floor is staffed with a Resident Assistant. These staff members are trained to respond to an array of emergencies including interpersonal conflicts, health emergencies, fires, and missing person reports.

Campus community members play an important role in their own safety. Periodic reminders are sent via e-mail and provided through Resident Assistants to encourage personal safety habits like locking room doors, not walking alone in dark areas, and reporting suspicious behavior.

There are exterior phones near the main entrance of every residence hall. There are numerous emergency phones on campus and in parking lots that ring directly to Campus Safety when activated. This summer, cameras will be installed in several parking lots to improve our surveillance of activity.

Residence halls are locked from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Residents of each building have a unique key or access card to enter the building they reside in when it is locked.

When a threat to the college community is realized, an alert is issued via e-mail to all students, faculty, and staff, and through word of mouth by staff members in residence halls, The Commons, and around campus. Fortunately, this alert is typically to provide accurate information about an incident and alleviate fears, not to require immediate maneuvering for safety. However, if necessary, that approach would be used along with announcements via bullhorns and emergency vehicle public address systems. Also, we will work with the City of Mount Vernon to use an outdoor warning system already in place, and study the feasibility of obtaining technology to mass communicate via text messages, instant messages, and voice mail messages.

Support and the Goal of Prevention
All institutions share the same goal of preventing incidents of violence from happening. In this vein, providing support to students, obtaining accurate information about concerns, and acting appropriately on that information is essential.

Cornell’s Health and Counseling Centers offer free services to students. The Counseling Center, staffed with a full-time licensed psychologist and a part-time licensed counselor, provides general counseling to students and readily refers students with long-term, inpatient, or other specialized issues to area agencies and clinicians. The staff also conducts outreach and awareness programs.

Cornell requires students to carry health insurance and offers a supplemental program which could be used to access some mental health care outside of the campus. Also, simple processes are in place to accommodate students who may need to drop a course or temporarily leave the college to handle mental or medical health concerns.

Regarding students with potential behavioral issues, we want to learn as much as we can and as soon as we can, from the individual student and his or her parents, other students, parents, faculty, staff, and so on. The Dean of Students manages an early warning system that encourages community members to share information that concerns them. These could include academic, emotional, psychological, social adjustment, or relationship issues. This process is managed very carefully and situations are handled fairly for all parties involved. We take all information seriously, investigate concerns, and intervene when necessary to assist the student in question with having a safe and successful Cornell experience. Cornell operates in accordance with the federal Clery Act.

If it is determined that a student cannot function in a healthy manner in the college environment, or if there is concrete knowledge that a student’s behavior is a threat to himself or others, the College will make an informed decision and act to protect the safety of the student and others. Admittedly, on all college campuses there are student behaviors some might consider weird or even scary. However, we urge people not to judge others based on stereotypes. Prejudicial actions associated with race, nationality, appearance, mental health, or other personal attributes will not be tolerated.

Continuing Commitment to Safety
Cornell is committed to providing a safe living and learning environment for our students, faculty, staff and guests. We will continue to monitor emergency response and regular security practices and make adjustments as warranted.