James Skorczewski
Director of Campus Safety
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Dear St. Norbert College Community:
Please join me in welcoming James Skorczewski as the new director of campus safety. Throughout his extensive career in law enforcement, Jim has held positions as public safety officer, D.A.R.E instructor, lieutenant and commander. Before assuming the St. Norbert College position, he was the commander of support services with the Ashwaubenon Department of Public Safety. Jim is a State of Wisconsin certified law enforcement officer, a State of Wisconsin emergency medical technician and a State of Wisconsin certified firefighter I & II. He belongs to the International Society of Crime Prevention Practitioners and is a certified crime prevention specialist.
Jim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and a Master of Science in administrative science from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Like myself, Jim has completed the FEMA National Incident Management System training.
I am confident that Jim will take the department and this community to the next level of performance and service. In addition to his experience, Jim’s expertise and focus on service, training, crime prevention and interaction with the college community will upgrade the effectiveness of the department. His knowledge of, and relationship with, local law enforcement agencies will serve both the college and the city of De Pere in sustaining initiatives to enhance cooperation, joint efforts and town/gown relations.
The Changing Context of Campus Safety and Initiatives at St. Norbert College
I would like to take this opportunity to update you on the initiatives that we have undertaken to augment campus safety.
The safety of the students, faculty and staff at St. Norbert College has always been a top priority. However, tragedies like those at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and North Carolina behoove us to take steps to make the campus even more safe. Parents are increasingly concerned about the safety of their students on campus. Relations between town and gown bring another dimension to the table.
While tornadoes, floods, fires and other threats to safety traditionally have confronted individual colleges and universities since their inception, today there are more such issues and their effects tend to be far-reaching. Additionally, society is seeing increasingly complicated and aberrant behaviors. A safe campus is one that provides its community members the opportunity to pursue their academic and personal endeavors in an environment free of discrimination, intimidation and threat to their physical or emotional well-being.
A review of the literature provides a wealth of information on the complexity of the social, ethical, legal and political matrix from which contemporary campus safety issues arise. These issues are in constant flux, and underscore the fact that no single strategy can be the panacea for addressing safety. Thus, we continue to assess our policies, protocol staffing and resources to assist in ensuring a safe campus. We must continually process the lessons of past crises, weigh current concerns and put in place mechanisms to anticipate future issues.
A key component of our comprehensive action plan entails emergency notification. We have implemented Connect-Ed, an emergency notification system to disseminate emergency safety information via e-mail and phone. We are currently evaluating additional technology that would enable us to transmit the same information via text messaging. We are also investigating technology that would allow computer pop-up alerts. Note that any such emergency notification system is only as good as the contact information that the community provides. We request that, if you have not already done so, you please click on this link to log into KnightLine and follow the instructions to register or update your phone numbers.
http://www.snc.edu/campussafety/docs/cens.pdf
Other highlights of accomplishments and initiatives thus far include:
• a change in leadership and additional professional staffing. We are in the process of hiring three additional professional safety officers to provide 24/7 coverage and serve as first-responders. This initiative entails redefining the role of safety student assistants. This will be one of the early tasks undertaken by the new director of campus safety.
• improvements to the Campus Safety office space to render it professional, inviting and functional.
• an ongoing program of installation of security cameras in parking lots.
• an internal review of the campus safety department and consequent development of an action plan.
• the implementation of protocols that include contingencies for a range of man-made and natural situations. These are contained in an Emergency Procedures binder (the Red Binder) and many members of the campus community have been trained in the use of the binder. We are currently in the process of posting a reference version of these protocols in classrooms, residence halls and public spaces in all buildings.
• continuing collaboration with local law enforcement and the addition of a De Pere Police “desk” in our campus safety department. This gives officers a place to do their work in a way that will enhance our relationship with them and provide opportunities for informal interaction and familiarization with the community.
• the start of work on a campus safety operations manual.
The Governor’s Task Force Report on Campus Safety
Concurrent with our new directions for a campus safety plan, in August 2007 we began implementation of best practices from the Governor’s Task Force on Campus Safety. We have made great strides in reviewing our approach to violence and emergency preparedness. The following initiatives in key areas of prevention and preparedness, intervention and response have been implemented.
• In July 2007, we established a campus safety and emergency management committee comprised of representatives from across campus, to advise the president’s cabinet.
• In February 2008, we established the St. Norbert College Alert Assessment Team to assess worrisome, threatening or dangerous behaviors identified by any member of the campus community. The purpose is to defuse situations before they become major problems.
The team serves in an advisory capacity to:
o the vice president for student life, for student concerns.
o the vice president for academic affairs, for faculty concerns.
o the respective vice president for that division, for staff concerns.
We are currently in the midst of the training process for this team.
• The pandemic planning working group of St. Norbert College has been working since October 2007 on developing response plans in the event of a significant crisis related to a worldwide event. They have developed a comprehensive work plan that is to be shared with the campus community.
• We have a series of “tabletop” exercises planned to assure our emergency preparedness and appropriate working relationship with city and local agencies. The most recent of these was a disaster drill on handling a tornado event.
Other future initiatives include workshops on situations like “active shooter” protocols. We are in conversations with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College’s cadet program to utilize interns from their program for additional services.
Please know that while Campus Safety works to augment its operations, everyone in the community shares in the complex task of informing practice by looking beyond the boundaries of traditional programs and services.
I thank you for your patience and cooperation as we strive to enhance the department’s efforts to operationalize the college’s mission. By providing and maintaining a safe and secure campus environment where diverse social, cultural and academic values can thrive, we will maintain an atmosphere that is conducive to living, learning and working.
The Campus Safety office is located in PAC 120 and the phone number is (920) 403-3299.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mary Oling-Sisay
Vice President for Student Life
(920) 403-3055 |
mary.oling-sisay@snc.edu
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