UI campus safety and security audit under way

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu

Photo by Bill Wiegand Security assessment According to Van Anderson, associate vice chancellor for administration and human resources, administrators are scrutinizing departmental units, facilities and existing safety policies and procedures to determine whether current measures are adequate or need to be strengthened.

The UI administration has embarked upon a safety and security audit of the Urbana campus in response to terrorist activities. Administrators are scrutinizing departmental units, facilities and existing safety policies and procedures to determine whether current measures are adequate or whether they need to be heightened.

The audit, being led by the Division of Environmental Health and Safety, augments the university’s routine safety and security efforts and will continue indefinitely, according to Van Anderson, associate vice chancellor for administration and human resources.

"This isn’t something that we’ll take aquick look at and walk away from," Anderson said. "It’s part of an ongoing process and there will be some recommendations to come out of this. There have already been things implemented – such as tighter security at athletic events – and there are other things that you won’t be seeing that have been implemented.
"There are also long-term things that have financial considerations, such as costs for improved security. Some of those things are happening right now and some of them will happen as time goes on and dollars become available," Anderson said.

Reviews are first being conducted of facilities and units deemed at greater risk for dangerous activity, such as Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall, and security is being heightened in those areas.

Fans entering Memorial Stadium for home football games and travelers passing through Willard Airport in Savoy already have seen evidence of these stricter security measures, such as the presence of National Guard troops in the airport terminal, tighter gate restrictions at the stadium and more police patrolling those locations.

However, there have been few policy changes at the university residence halls because access already was tightly controlled, according to Anna Hernandez, assistant director of marketing for the Housing Division.
However, the Housing Division is in the process of installing a card-access system and expects to have it operational in all the university residence halls by 2004.

"Safe rooms" also have been established around campus for students and others who feel they are being harassed or who need to leave their usual environment for some reason. So far, no one has requested this service, Hernandez said. Although incidents of inappropriate or threatening comments have been made, the parties involved have been referred to the Counseling Center and educational programs are being conducted in the residence halls to address those issues.