How Do We Prevent and Respond to Violence and Campus Emergencies?
The safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors to WSU is of utmost importance. There are many departments that play a role in keeping the WSU campus safe.
WSU Police and Emergency Management
Student Care Network
Behavior Assessment Committee (BAC)
Human Resource Service’s Safe Environment
WSU Police provide general crime prevention programs for residence hall members, Greek houses and the general university community. Special programs target harassment, hate crimes, and personal safety issues. Programs presentations consist of traffic safety/passenger restraint, crime prevention, sexual assault/domestic dispute, and substance abuse awareness prevention. Upon request, officers will provide presentations concerning the above topics and other issues. WSU Police are also the lead agency in providing personal safety training to the campus. For example, officers facilitate trainings in dealing with “active shooter” situations.
The Office of Emergency Management develops emergency response and recovery plans for the campus. Emergency communications play a significant role in WSU’s prevention and response efforts for campus violence. The WSU Emergency Notifications Policy can be found here.
The Student Care Network is designed to help WSU students be successful by providing a forum for early intervention to anyone who has direct contact with students. Click here, for access to the Student Care Network website which provides you with the resources you need to assist a student, and/or open communication channels so that someone else may provide the appropriate help. Early identification of potentially harmful behavior is one way in which WSU can help students avert crisis.
The Behavior Assessment Committee is comprised of representatives from Counseling Services, Health and Wellness Services, Campus Safety, Residence Life, Office of Student Conduct, the Office of the Dean of Students. the University’s Risk Manager, with the Attorney General’s Office acting in an advisory capacity. The BAC responds to reports about students of concern and will screen and intervene with students whose behavior is perceived as threatening to self or others.
This initiative is committed to preventing campus violence and ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all faculty, staff, students and visitors. Established WSU policies will serve as the mechanisms for resolving situations of violence and/or threats of violence. In conjunction with the established policies, all situations of violence and/or threats of violence will be taken seriously.
More information on the Safe Environment initiative can be found by clicking here.