Leaders across the UNC system gathered Tuesday to launch a systemwide campus security review — an initiative that will zero in on student alcohol and drug use and sexual assault reporting.
The in-depth review comes amid nationwide debate on how best to address these issues on college campuses. UNC-system President Tom Ross said at the meeting that the comprehensive policy effort is important for all public universities in the state.
“(The initiative) will allow us to deal with difficult issues of being fair to everyone involved in these circumstances,” he said.
In an address to the members of the initiative, Abigail Boyer, assistant executive director of programs, outreach and communications at the Clery Center for Security on Campus, said incident response and prevention methods need to be revisited by campuses on a regular basis.
“New students come to your institutions every single year,” Boyer said. “The way that they respond, the way that they connect to the institution, the way that they access resources might change drastically.”
Boyer said what gives students the confidence to report problems is the knowledge that their report will be investigated thoroughly and they will be given fair treatment in the process.
Still, changes on campus made to encourage complete and confident incident reporting often lead to a rise in the crimes listed in annual security reports, Boyer said.
“When you’re proactive, the statistics will likely go up,” she said, adding that campus leaders need to discuss at the start of any initiative what outcomes are expected from any policy changes.
The members of the initiative split up into three work groups — responding to offenses against persons, campus public safety and security reporting and awareness.
