History was made on August 1, 1966, when Charles Whitman reached the top of the UT tower and opened fire, killing several people with which he had no personal connection. The UT tower shooting was the first mass campus murder in America. As we observed the 50th anniversary of this tragedy last year, we’ve lost count of how many school shootings and threats to campus safety that has since come to pass.
Campus safety is one of the most pressing matters of our time, and we’re eager to find solutions that put the sense of security back into the educational system. As technology emerges to address the issue, it’s quickly becoming clear what’s necessary for them to be effective.
Effective Means Mobile
Like any technology these days—the solution has to be mobile. Gone are the days when emergency call boxes were an acceptable answer to the need for campus safety. The most imperative aspect of campus safety is the ability to quickly communicate with emergency responders, and right now there’s no better way of execution than through mobile apps.
Released in 2013, the creators of CampusSafe™ saw the need for mobility in campus safety technology. With CampusSafe™, faculty and staff are not only able to reach emergency responders with a tap of the button, but campuses are also able to communicate in real-time with people on campus of any perceived threats to their safety.
Cost Goes Down
With mobile app solutions, campus safety technology is not only easy to access and offers quick response time, it’s also a more affordable option than other common alternatives. In a time when most public universities are tightening their belts under strict budgets, it’s increasingly harder to meet the diverse needs of faculty and staff.
With a mobile solution like CampusSafe™, schools are often able to spend less on the installation and upkeep of hardware meant to serve the same purpose. And, with a license-based service through schools, CampusSafe™ is a free service to its end users. This increases its adoption rate, making it a wholly more effective solution.
Compliance is Easier
As campus safety becomes more of a pressing matter, laws are being created to help define what is a threat to safety and how campuses must respond to these threats. Laws like Title IX bolster the need for solutions like CampusSafe™ to help schools comply with safety laws. This means we can expect to see the number of campus safety solutions to grow over these next few years, and time will tell what proves to work best.
It will take even more time for developing technologies to completely replace a security system already set in place at campuses, such as security cameras and building access cards. Once these systems are integrated—those that detect or deter danger, and those that spread the word about potential danger—we will see something truly powerful.
And with part of that power helmed by students and faculty through self-reporting, you are putting a greater sense of safety back on campuses.
