Leadership Exchange - Winter 2008

mobile environments, such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). In addition, many campuses are ramping up video monitoring capabilities and Web-based security devices to incorporate cutting-edge technology.

“We all need to be thinking and thinking hard about technology—it is imperative that we find a way to reach people where they are. Mobile environments can do that,” says Karen L. Pennington, vice president for student development and campus life at Montclair State University.

The university has been using Rave Guardian by Rave Wireless, a GPS-based (global positioning system) mobile phone application that provides students with the option to activate Guardian and contact campus security right from their cell phones.

At the same time, other alert notification systems are gaining in popularity. Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio, has adopted Account4Me, a Web-based communication system that allows the university to notify, identify, or locate students, faculty, and staff in an emergency. Through stored contact information such as phone and pager numbers, short message service (SMS) text messaging, and e-mail addresses provided by university members, Account4Me’s

“It is imperative that we find a way
to reach people where they are.”

central processing system can quickly locate and notify individuals according to their notification specifications. In the case of an emergency, an incident commander sends an alert to all university members, and individuals respond using their preferred method of communication.

“An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure these days,” says Wilberforce University President Rev. Floyd H. Flake. “We are taking steps now to ensure our safety tomorrow and in the future.” He adds, “We are witnessing unprecedented levels of campus threats that undermine the safety of students, faculty, and administrators. We have chosen to aggressively address this issue at the university by putting in place a reliable infrastructure, systems, and partnerships to mitigate risk.”

Following the murders of two students in 2005, Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus focused its attention on safety, security, and crime prevention measures. The university turned to a computer video program that can detect