Following the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech, Gov. Jim Doyle recently signed an executive order creating the Governor's Task Force on Campus Safety. The goal is to ensure campus security and preparedness in emergency situations on all Wisconsin college campuses.
The task force will focus on improving communication methods with students and law enforcement, as well as coordinating actions of campus officials and local police. It will also try to identify students who may be at risk of committing dangerous acts and direct them to mental health services.
""When Wisconsin students go off to college, I don't want them, or their parents, worrying whether their campus is unprepared for an emergency,"" Doyle said in a statement.
State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said the task force will meet with experts and make recommendations to modify campus security when dealing with threat assessments.
He added some of the recommendations might require another executive order or legislation.
""It appears that the most valuable thing that might come out of [the task force] is making mental health services more accessible,"" he said.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said another worthwhile aspect of the task force is to make sure proper training and equipment are provided to campus police forces.
The UW System has already created the President's Commission on Security, chaired by University of Wisconsin Police Department Police Chief Sue Riseling. The commission will evaluate security operations across the 26 UW campuses. Riseling said the commission plans to focus on preventing a Virginia Tech-like situation, how to respond if such events take place, and how to deal with the aftermath within the university community.
""It's going to be a challenge, but it's incredibly worthwhile,"" Riseling said.
Some obstacles the commission may face are adopting security plans for different sized campuses as well as maintaining safety on technical college campuses.
Riseling said the technical colleges present unique problems such as a smaller student population and no dormitory residents.
UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said campus safety plans are constantly evolving and changing based on suggestions made by the commission or the task force.
Riseling said the Commission on Security plans to deliver a final report to UW System President Kevin Riley by June 30. ""We're on our timeline to make sure that we're ready to do something, we hope, different by fall,"" Riseling said.
The task force will give the governor preliminary results in August and a finalized report in November.
