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END-USER INSIDER goes of when you are on campus?"; and, "What are these blue light things on campus?" When new students attend campus orientations, we ensure that critical emergency information is included and stressed Featured this month: by student orientation leaders. We do, however, understand Bob Harkins that most students tend to mentally dump this information the minute they leave orientation. As a result, there must be a follow-up briefng at the start of the school year, including orientations by university resident hall staf members. Additionally, we require each professor to include in their syllabus instruction on what to do during an emergency. Instructors are also asked to commit fve minutes during the frst class day to discuss emergency planning. We recognize Bob Harkins is Associate Vice President for Campus Safety and Security the reality that no one communications system is 100% reliat the University of Texas at Austin. able and there is no guarantee that a single system will reach bharkins@austin.utexas.edu every community member. UT operates multiple systems and methods to disseminate information in the event of an emergency, including: emergency Web page; outdoor warning system (siren); text messages; pagers; computer pop-up s the associate vice president for campus alerts; social media; fat-panel displays throughout the camsafety and security for the University of pus; E-mail; mass media communications; in-building loud Texas at Austin, I oversee a campus of speakers and notifcation systems; reverse 911; 800 phone 53,000 students, 17,000 staf and faculty, number; and an integrated campus radio system. and about 3,000 visitors daily. Located just blocks from the Most signifcant is for a campus system to have redunTexas State Capitol, UT has 160+ buildings on the more than dancy and template messages for quicker response time. 400-acre main campus. I am responsible for the operation of It is also vital that the process to initiate these systems is the UT Police Department, Environmental Health & Safety, examined in detail. We use UTPD dispatch personnel to opFire Prevention Services, Emergency Preparedness, as well erate the siren if needed, as well as text. Ideally, responsibilas Parking and Transportation Services. ity for the other systems should be assigned to other ofces, So what are my top concerns for the coming academic since dispatch can be quickly consumed with emergency year? Primarily, communications and establishing the responses. structure and the development of campus safety and Te second most important factor to have in place for a rosecurity program plans. In discussbust program is establishing the strucing emergency communications for a ture and the development of plans. UT Most signifcant is higher education setting, my hope is to has consolidated the responsibility for for a campus system improve SSI readers' understanding of campus safety and security under my to have redundancy the multifaceted aspects to planning ofce. Tis has greatly helped our abiland template and execution in this unique vertical ity to plan and coordinate. market. Additionally, I chair the Unimessages for quicker versity Campus Safety & Security response time. IMPLEMENTING A Committee, which comprises about MULTILAYERED APPROACH 40 offices and meets monthly. Here Tere are two important facets to we discuss all campus safety and campus communications. First and foremost, due to the security issues. This does wonders to cut through the turnover each year, we can never assume that our communi- typical university silos. ty understands what to do in an emergency situation. So we I invite you to peruse the following online material as an begin each year reaching out with consultations throughout example of just some of the campus security and life-safety the campus. Tat includes orientations and as many face-toeforts at UT: utexas.edu/safety; utexas.edu/safety/preparedface meetings as possible. For incoming students, we start ness; utexas.edu/safety/preparedness/plans. pre-orientation with teasing materials contained in letters Campus safety and security is a complicated business, and Web sites. Tis includes coaxing the students to learn one that is a never-ending endeavor. It takes an efort by all more about life-safety concerns such as "How do you sign up stakeholders to create and sustain an efective emergency for emergency texting?"; "Do you know what to do if the siren preparedness system. GRASPING THE DIVERSE LIFE-SAFETY NEEDS OF A CAMPUS A 164 / SECURITYSALES.COM / SEPTEMBER 2013