The Campus Times’ Sept. 13 editorial questioned if the University was doing enough to alert undergraduates to criminal activity on or bordering our campuses. The Board called for “a concrete e-mail system…to alert students of immediate safety concerns.”
We couldn’t agree more. In fact, it exists now. All students in the College are sent every security notice through e-mail lists maintained by the Registrar. Students don’t have to go to the Security Web site (http://www.security.rochester.edu), but they can also do that. If prompt notice by e-mail is not feasible, such as during the recent power outage on River Campus, back-up plans exist. Fliers, personal contacts through Res Life staff, postings to the University Web site and telephone call-trees are options. More choices will be unveiled later in the Fall.
Two members of the Editorial Board met with me to talk about these procedures. They reported not receiving some of the e-mail notices themselves. So, it was agreed to let Information Technology staff trace the path of the notices intended to them as a good faith gesture. We are awaiting the results. Meanwhile, here are things you can do:
Check your University e-mail regularly. If you have it forwarded, make sure it goes to an active address and that filters are not blocking University messages.
Share notices with your friends – they may not have checked their own e-mail and may be unaware of an advisory.
If you find that forwarded e-mail is not arriving, let us know, so we can alert the IT staff.
We want students to know about criminal activity so they can make informed decisions when on campus or traveling more widely. Others may subscribe to a list-serv to which notices are posted: http://www.security.rochester.edu/notify/index.php. We are in this together. Individually and collectively, we must help protect our campus from harm. This can be done – working together.
-Walter O. MauldinDirector of University Security
