Your Feedback Matters: Our Commitment to Campus Safety

Dear members of the Columbia community:

Our campus environment plays an essential role in fulfilling the learning, teaching, and research mission that brought you to Columbia, and we have no higher priority than providing the best possible environment for those activities. Over the past months, Columbia’s Inclusive Public Safety Advisory Committee (IPSAC) conducted listening sessions to learn firsthand about your priorities and concerns. I am writing to address the questions raised most frequently and to update you on our ongoing work to keep our campuses safe. We encourage you to continue to share concerns, suggestions, and questions with the IPSAC.

Why is there a security presence around campus?

A visible public safety presence has long been a part of our urban campus, predating the events of last year. Our public safety workforce has long been comprised of Columbia public safety personnel and individuals from contracted public safety organizations who can supplement our staffing capabilities when needed. Because of the high demand on our Columbia public safety officers over the last year, you have seen a greater proportion of personnel from contracted organizations over the last few months. We are currently in the process of ensuring that we have the appropriate balance across our public safety workforce, and we are committed to reducing the presence of contracted public safety guards on campus whenever possible.

How are we making decisions about Morningside campus access?

The last year has brought a distinct set of challenges that have resulted in the need to restrict access for periods of time. As President Armstrong shared, the uncertainty of the last months and outside interest in disrupting our Morningside campus has led to limiting access to the Morningside campus to students, faculty and staff, and authorized guests. Our commitment to return to a fully open campus remains even as we continue to navigate substantive concerns about the risk of the external environment to our campus functioning and academic activities. Because this risk has persisted beyond initial expectations, we will be working closely with IPSAC to create a Morningside campus access advisory group to better inform our access decisions moving forward. At the same time, we will continue our efforts to facilitate smooth and reasonably quick entry for those who are authorized and to expand access to our extended community as quickly as possible.

What is Public Safety doing to earn the community’s trust?

Trust is essential to effective public safety. Public Safety has zero tolerance for discrimination, profiling, or rude behavior and we are committed to making our campus a place that feels welcoming and inclusive for all. To deliver on this commitment, we are greatly expanding our investment in training and workforce development, including new mandatory training courses on Fair and Impartial Policing, and Cross-Cultural Communication Skills. These courses are in addition to existing training on Negotiation, Hidden Bias, Situational Awareness, and Conflict Management and De-Escalation Skills. All Public Safety officers will also take a mandatory customer service course. We continue to work with IPSAC to address concerns about public safety practices and improve our ability to provide useful information to our community. If your interactions with security personnel have fallen short of these commitments, please report here.

What other operational changes are helping to improve the on-campus experience?

We recognize that even modest steps can improve the atmosphere on campus. Public Safety personnel are now wearing nametags; will be stationed inside the main entry gates to greet Columbia affiliates and guests; and will assist in campus wayfinding. Additional mobile card readers have been deployed. Just over the last week, we have removed swipe access during working hours from many of the buildings on Morningside and are continuing to explore all suggestions about reducing access barriers on campus.

As we continue to enhance our support of the community, we are creating a dedicated operations position focused on delivering a safe and welcoming environment for all members of the Columbia community. To that end, Brian McPherson has been promoted to Deputy Vice President for Public Safety Operations and is responsible for day-to-day operations at the Morningside, Manhattanville, and Medical Center campuses. Gerald Lewis Jr., in his role as Vice President for Public Safety, will focus on strategic initiatives, community engagement, including with the Inclusive Public Safety Advisory Committee, and he will implement best practices and systems that align with the dual priorities of fostering a safe and inclusive environment. Both will report directly to David Greenberg, Executive Vice President for Facilities and Operations, and will work closely together to ensure that best practices in safety, training, and inclusivity are implemented across our campuses.

We are committed to adapting to changing circumstances and to listening to the community as we continuously strive to maintain campus safety and preserve an environment supportive of our academic mission. We also will continue to collaborate with Columbia affiliates and local institutions to uphold the University’s role as a member of the wider neighborhood community. Thank you for your engagement and support; they are critical to moving our campus forward and to sustaining the remarkable work that occurs here every day.

Sincerely,

Cas Holloway
Chief Operating Officer