Low-cost, low-tech solutions for campus safety

Madison, Wis.—May 14, 2009 — When we think of making campus facilities more secure, we often think of high-tech or expensive equipment solutions. Although these solutions do deter crime and are worth the expense, says Denise Swett, dean of the Middlefield Campus at Foothill College in California, many of the efforts to make campus facilities more secure are relatively low-cost and low-tech.

During her recent online seminar Including Safety and Security in Campus Facilities Planning, Swett outlined how to make new and existing facilities more resistant to crime using something as seemingly simple as landscaping.

A bougainvillea border underneath a bank of windows, for example, serves a security function. The flowering shrub’s tangle of thorns deter potential criminals from accessing the building through the windows. Low-to-the-ground hedges and trees with their lower branches pruned away also enhance security: they keep windows from being obscured and don’t afford potential criminals places to hide.

Landscaping that offers full outdoor views also deters potential criminals. A photograph from Swett’s campus, for example, shows a grouping of tables in an outdoor spot that affords a view in all directions, making it harder for a potential criminal to surprise anyone sitting there or commit a crime without being observed by someone else in the area. In contrast, a photograph from another campus shows a path winding through a garden of tall bamboo plants: although the garden is lovely, people on the path cannot see other people on it until they’re in very close range.

Swett’s presentation also introduced innovations in equipment such as:
• lighting
• emergency communication systems
• surveillance
• access control

Swett also discussed where to find funding to obtain and install some of these equipment innovations, including:
• a life and safety student fee
• federal and state grants
• corporate and private foundations
• bond programs

If you missed the seminar and would like to purchase it for your institution, you can order the program in CD or print transcript format, both of which include the presenter's handouts.

Magna Publications is a leading publisher of newsletters and other information products in the higher education segment. Magna also manages onsite and online conferences on topics of interest to higher education.

For more information please contact David Burns, Publisher, Magna Publications, Inc., at 608-227-8109, or dburns@magnapubs.com.