Survey Finds Money an Issue for Campus Safety and Security

  • Oct 22, 2010

Margolis, Healy & Associates (MH&A), a leading professional services firm specializing in the higher education safety and security sector, recently announced select key findings from its 2010 Campus Safety and Security Survey. The MH&A survey includes data collected from 232 administrators at many of the nation's top universities and colleges.

Among the most notable findings:

  • Nearly 70 percent of respondents had a moderate, low or no concern about the more common- place incidents such as natural disasters or chemical spills.
  • More than 30 percent of universities and colleges do not conduct regular or annual reviews of campus security resources.
  • Nearly 90 percent of respondents representing a diverse array of campus constituents cited inadequate budget/personnel as a main obstacle to being appropriately trained and resourced.

"We believe institutions are more likely to face critical incidents such as fires, chemical spills, power outages and weather-related emergencies, such as floods or ice storms," said Steven J. Healy, managing partner at MH&A. "Our survey results imply that many institutions are simply not paying enough attention to these types of high probability incidents."

"If this moderate to low concern is indicative of planning complacency and inaction, then this flies in the face of our evolving thinking about emergency management in the college and university setting and the congressional intent behind recent changes to the Clery Act, " said Gary J. Margolis, Ph.D., MH&A managing partner. "These revisions specifically underscore the need for an all-hazards approach to emergency notification."

"It's our hope that the insights gained through the survey will help higher education administrators make evidence-based decisions as they work to enhance their approach to campus safety and security," Healy added.

Roughly 25 percent of survey participants were affiliated with institutions of 25,000 or more students. The MH&A survey results include information and statistics from both urban and suburban/rural institutions (50/50 split) and from commuter and residential schools throughout the nation. Survey results can be viewed at www.margolis-healy.com.

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