October 31st, 2007
This forum began at 8 AM in the Ferguson Theater on the 1st floor in the 600 S. Michigan Building. Ultimately there were perhaps 50 people in attendance.
The Provost began this forum by introducing Martha Meegan (Director of Campus Safety) and asked her to address concerns that have been raised about safety and security at our college.
Martha began by introducing her “team” and those involved on campus with emergency response. This includes: fire marshals; security officers in each building; security patrol officers; the assistant security director and building services personnel.
She continued by noting that our college has a close working relationship with Chicago police and federal law enforcement agencies.
In 2004, the College began writing an emergency response plan that is, by the way, an ongoing living document that is still in progress. This plan includes: how does the administration address a crisis, how do we communicate to the community in a crisis and how we would recover from a critical incident; updated step-by-step procedures on how to deal with a person with a weapon and how the college would deal with wide-spread infectious disease. The campus security web site has information on how the general public can respond to emergency situations.
Martha asked all faculty, staff and administrators to update their personal contact information [home phone, cellular phone and email address] on IRIS so that the college could, if ever necessary, provide a mass notification to all employees in the event of a crisis. A test of this system will be conducted on November 15th.
She continued by imploring all employees to be involved and to keep an eye on potential student problems. She stated that we know the student state of mind better than her and we need to be involved to help identify students who might have behavioral issues. Such student problems should be dealt with by Student Affairs; if you have such a situation, please contact Student Life.
Anne Foley here noted that there is a Behavioral Risk Team, out of the Counseling Office, and it has a good track record of showing up quickly [within five minutes] to a “situation”.
Provost Kapelke began his remarks by noting the efforts of the Rank/Promotion Task Force and the Tenure Review Task Force. The Rank/Promotion Task Force is working on details at this time to be submitted to the Provost. There will be special forums in January on a Thursday and Friday right before spring semester classes start on both the Rank/Promotion and Tenure Review Task Forces.
The self-study teams for our NCA re-accreditation effort have been assigned. There will be a system set up for the Self-Study committee to receive input and information from the college community. This may include town hall meetings and a blog.
The All-College Retreat will be held from August 19th – August 21st of 2008. It will be at Lake Lawn Lodge in Wisconsin. The Chair of the All College Retreat Committee is Philippe Ravanas.
All full-time faculty are to update their CV by Fall 2008 and send it to their Dean. This necessary, important task will also be done by all continuing part-time faculty. Soo La Kim, the Assistant Director of the CTE, is conducting CV workshops to help faculty with this task; there will be one this upcoming Tuesday [the 6th] at 12 PM in the Faculty Center – if you feel you need help in updating your CV please make an effort to attend.
Responding to concerns about the Institutional Performance Survey (IPS), working groups were convened and the following recommendations [taken from a memo sent by Provost Kapelke to members of the Executive Committee of the College Council on October 24th] came about after discussion:
The first recommendation is to continue conducting the IPS, including questions that address Columbia College faculty and staff concerns.
The second recommendation is that the senior leadership of the college should meet more often with faculty and staff in informal settings to encourage more dialogue.
President Carter assigned me, as Provost, the responsibility for identifying additional venues and vehicles for improving communication with faculty and staff.
The third recommendation is that the administration should distribute a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document about budget and related financial issues.
President Carter assigned Mike DeSalle responsibility for producing a budget and finance FAQ document.
The fourth recommendation is that the administration should expand new employee orientation to include information on the college’s mission and values; organizational structure and governance; and major policies and procedures.
President Carter assigned Mike DeSalle responsibility for developing an expanded orientation program for new employees.
Dr. Carter asked Anne, Mark and me [Provost Kapelke] for progress reports before the December holiday break ad asked them to consult with Keith [Cleveland], Stephanie, Yun, Deb and the work teams that made the recommendations.
The Provost here noted that is looking for ideas on how deal with these four recommendations. He stated that as we get larger, communication will be an issue. At this time, the new assistant dean in the F&PA School and the new director of the Library were introduced.
Events of note include: a lecture and book signing by Allan Wiseman on November 8th; a micro-lending event and book discussion co-ordinated by Rob Watkins; a Critical Encounters artist talk and reception on November 29th and world AIDS day on November 30th [this will be observed on campus]. If you are addressing issues of poverty or privilege in your teaching, please alert either Stephanie Shonekan or Lott Hill so they can document these discussions/efforts.
(I HAVE DONE MY BEST HERE TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE C/Q/A SESSION).
There should be a clear link for faculty on information on how to deal with students who have had disciplinary action against them or intervention on their behalf. This could enhance our ability to be proactive and catch things with students before they become serious.
Offered by Martha Meegan
Martha noted that she would be willing to make presentations to faculty and staff representatives to eliminate any confusion over this issue.
Answer (Martha Meegan)
Such an “event” will not mark a student for “life”. Sanctions given to a student of course depend on the incident [and its seriousness]. If it is minor, it does not go on their record.
The four recommendations coming form the IPS are noted earlier in this collection of notes.
Answer (Martha Meegan)
Yes.
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
I have made it clear faculty are to use this time [unless they are teaching] to work on their scholarship or creative endeavors. They should, of course, be available for orientation/advising - this should though be concentrated and not spread out over several days. I will have Vice President for Academic Affairs Love look into the Connections “Program” and the amount of time it requires of faculty.
Question
Asked by Zafra Lerman
What about staff/faculty/administration behavior [that could require intervention]?
Answer (Martha Meegan)
We are developing procedures currently to deal with this. Behavioral assessment is the tricky part. Mental health evaluation might need to be done. Do we bring in the student life team into these situations? Human Resources will be brought in and counseling services could be brought in.
Question
Asked by Carly Flagg Campbell
What about our evacuation process? Will there be more visual alarms if people are doing work away from their offices?
Answer (Martha Meegan)
Emergency evacuation drills are conducted every semester in each campus building. We time how long it takes for faculty, staff and students to get out of the buildings. We have a list of students who need assistance in the event of an evacuation by day/time of day and building. Security has a copy of this list also. Martha here asked how can I keep track of you? What if a faculty or staff member is on crutches or has another medical mobility issue? Faculty and staff need to inform her and security [in their building] if such mobility issues exist [even if they are only temporary].
If you feel we need more strobe evacuation lights, please let me know.
Comment/Questions
(Offered/Asked by Randy Albers)
The last evacuation drill in the 624 Michigan Building was bad. Should we use the fire escapes? What happens after 5 PM when most, if not all, of the fire marshals are gone for the day?
Response (Martha Meegan)
Yes, that last drill was terrible. The Blackstone Hotel had a trash dumpster right outside our fire escape stairs. We do these drills to learn and proactively address situations needing attention.
I am not opposed to using the fire escapes. They are checked every year. However, some who might use the fire escape have height issues and others may not wear shoes that are conducive for walking down fire escapes. If people want to use the fire escapes, they can use them.
Not all the fire marshals are gone after 5 PM. Not all the fire marshals are around and available at a given time during the day. All faculty and staff need to know how to evacuate and what are the best exits to use.
Comment
Offered by Eliza Nichols
Recently, my office provided advice for a faculty member who presented serious personal issues and made us think that this person was in imminent danger. We were able, through the EAP program [which is wonderful and should be better advertised to the college community], to get help for this individual. As a note, I would not allow this individual to return to the classroom until they did receive help. We also did contact Human Resources about this “incident”.
Response (Martha Meegan)
I believe that the faculty and staff should not attempt to mediate a threat situation. My office should have been brought into this “incident” to get the proper authorities involved. Human Resources is not yet able to deal with these situations. EAP is a wonderful program but is not capable of addressing a situation where someone has expressed a wish to harm themself [or possibly others].
Question
Asked by Toni Campbell
What about having a formal evacuation program? I want a program on how to use the fire escape.
Answer (Martha Meegan)
How can we do this? We need a walk through with faculty and staff on how to use the fire escapes. Perhaps, the fire safety marshals could conduct this walk-through and educate the faculty and staff on using the fire escapes.
Follow-up Comment
Offered by Toni Campbell
I want something that is more formal than what you note. I want it available for all who work in a given building.
Response (Martha Meegan)
You have a good point.
Follow-up Question
Asked by Gerald Adams
I was in the 624 building at the time of its last evacuation drill. What is the load-bearing capacity of the fire escapes?
Answer (Martha Meegan)
Facilities and Operations might have this information.
Follow-up Statement (Provost Kapelke)
Martha Meegan does not have all the answers.
Question
Asked by Elizabeth Davis-Berg
Is Student Life available after 5 PM? Do they have people available to respond to incidents after 5 PM?
Answer (Martha Meegan)
Yes to both questions. In addition, I would like to add that when a decision [disciplinary or intervention] is made about a student, security is notified immediately and they try to get information out to all involved as soon as possible.
Notes submitted by
Keith Kostecka
CCFO President