IU safety panel holds meeting to discuss campus procedures in light of Virginia Tech shootings

A panel of IU officials met Friday to discuss the changes being made in University security since the Virginia Tech shootings.\nIU Dean of the Faculties Jeanne Sept said the panel focuses on how individuals can work together to avoid a situation similar to the April 16 tragedy.\n“None of us needs to face a situation in isolation,” she said.\nDepartment officials and University professors attended the panel, which Sept said will continue to meet regularly, early and often.\nThe panel included eight officials from different parts of the University, including Dean of Students Dick McKaig and IU Police Department Capt. Keith Cash. Dialogue focused on the importance of good communication between all departments and urged anyone to call in concerns regarding a possible threat.\nIU attorney Kip Drew said after the incident at Virginia Tech she attended several meetings advising universities on appropriate emergency planning. She said IU is well-prepared, as it was even before the shootings.\n“There are procedures that have been in place for quite some time that should give people confidence,” Drew said.\nThe President’s Committee for Emergency Preparedness was formed after the shootings to create and submit a ‘campus security planning’ report. Law professor John Applegate, who is a member of this committee, said communication is already fluid among departments.\n“The issue is getting everything systemized so everyone knows what to do in the event of a crisis,” Applegate said.\nApplegate said situations like Virginia Tech are some of the least likely hazards facing the University. Security planning is also set up to organize the campus in the event of crises such as dangerous weather.\nBiology professor Mike Tansey said in the 37 years he has worked for IU, he has helped facilitate phone calls when others came to him with a situation. He said he has made hundreds of phone calls to different departments and he has never been let down.\n“I’ve never felt betrayed,” Tansey said. “I think people need to pick up that phone and communicate.”\nApplegate said the University’s top priority is finding an effective way to alert the entire campus in the event of a crisis.\n“E-mails, Web sites and texting are a part of it,” he said. “We are acquiring the infrastructure to do all that.”\nThe discussion closed with panel members stressing the importance of communication and awareness of emergency procedures.\n“Then the day the bad thing happens, you just have to do the best you can,” Drew said.