PREVENTING VIOLENCE ON CAMPUS

ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges
EdInfo Number 98-10

Confronting the issue of potential on-campus violence is an unpleasant but necessary task for community colleges. A single, violent act on campus can have devastating repercussions for the entire college community. Campus policies for preventing violence should include the following:

Survey students and faculty about their perceptions of campus safety;
Adopt and make public a "zero-tolerance" policy about violence or threats of violence;
Create a violence prevention/intervention working group, whose members can help defuse potentially volatile situations with employees or students;
Collaborate with local law enforcement on strategies for response and prevention;
Obtain careful reference and background checks for all employees;
Train faculty, staff, and students to look for warning signs that may precede a violent act;
Conduct personal safety workshops for all members of the campus community;
Develop response protocols in the event of a serious threat, such as a bomb on campus.

This information was reported in an article by Joe Cambridge of Tompkins Cortland Community College in New York, in the September 9, 1997 issue of The Community College Times.

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