News » Office of Security and Campus Safety

College to implement new emergency notification system in September

Bates News — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:43:01 +0000

In September, Bates College will implement and begin testing a new emergency notification system that will send information and instructions simultaneously to the entire campus community through e-mail, cell phones and telephone landlines.

Using contact information from Bates’ secure central database, the Bates Emergency Notification System will use a secure, off-site service to store office, home and cell telephone numbers, Bates e-mail addresses, and other telephone numbers and electronic addresses provided by students, faculty and staff.

In an emergency, authorized college administrators would deliver a message via voice mail directly to on-campus telephones and to a designated primary telephone, such as a personal cell phone. Text messaging also will be an option. Simultaneously, an e-mail would go to electronic addresses placed on file.

The notification system, which employs a service called Connect-ED offered by Blackboard Connect, Inc., formerly The NTI Group, Inc. of Sherman Oaks, Calif., also will allow segmented messages to subsets of the entire community, such as Physical Plant employees who are called early during snow emergencies. Connect-ED has been adopted by numerous colleges and universities, including Bowdoin, Hamilton, Princeton and Williams.

In mid-September, students, faculty and staff will be asked to review contact information and furnish additional information, such as personal cell phone numbers

After the information is obtained, the Bates Office of Security and Campus Safety will test the system to ensure that it will be able to reach as many students and employees as possible, as quickly as possible, should the need arise.

As a result of its continuing review of campus emergency planning, the Office of Security and Campus Safety also will be installing four sets of loudspeakers at strategic points on campus as an additional way to immediately inform people on campus in an emergency.

“We believe the new systems will greatly enhance the comprehensive emergency planning we already have in place, further ensuring the safety and well-being of our entire campus community,” said Tom Carey, director of the Office of Security and Campus Safety.

Bates, Lewiston-Auburn community cope with McDuffee death

Bates News — Fri, 08 Mar 2002 18:19:24 +0000

To the Campus Community,

We continue to express our grief. We have received hundreds of messages of condolence from within the College, from alumni, parents and friends, and from members of the Lewiston and Auburn community — neighbors, city officials, school children and scores of citizens.

Family and friends of Morgan are beginning to plan a memorial service to be held on campus; we will announce the details of the service as soon as they are determined. Grief counseling remains available to those in need through the Health Center.

Members of the Campus community should be aware of the safety procedures and services that have long been in place — including the Safewalk Alert program, the Security phone system, the availability and reliability of Bates’ EMS, the identification and self-defense programs, and the whistle and alert systems.

In addition, effective immediately, the College Security officers have expanded the areas of escort and are responding to personal requests for escorting, including those via cell phone. Security staffing has also been increased, as have patrols on campus and off. Lewiston Police patrols have been increased, as have their frequency.

Established this past January, a Neighborhood Alliance, with the College and the immediate neighborhood, now meets regularly to increase communication and to address common issues, including issues of safety. Holly Gurney, Assistant Dean of Students or Chris Cuevas, Security Officer, or Bill Hiss, Vice President for External and Alumni Affairs, who serve on the Neighborhood Alliance, would welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

We will be exploring the installation of courtesy telephones (not to replace but to be in addition to existing security phones) on the outside of residence halls, so that communication can be eased and the frequency of “propped doors” diminished.

Information is now being gathered to determine whether the College can use existing technology to connect off-campus students to the Bates internet system efficiently and effectively. Moreover, the same exploration will occur to determine if we can connect off-campus students to the Bates voice mail system.

Finally, a full-time Assistant Director of Campus Security will be identified as the security liaison with the Neighborhood Alliance and will, over the next few days, develop specific means of assisting in the interactions of campus members and the neighboring community. This will provide additional support to all, but particularly to the students living off-campus.

The efforts of Security, the efforts of the Lewiston Police, the support of the neighborhood and that of the campus community are directed to the shared objective of confirming a safe environment. Everyone benefits if there is a reaffirmation to the attention, precautions, and interest in maintaining such an environment .

Thank you,
Donald W. Harward
President

Note: A full list of the College’s Security and Campus Safety programs is found on the Security website.

To the Community,

There will be a memorial service at 7 p.m. Friday, March 15th in the Chapel in remembrance of Morgan McDuffee. Those who wish to gather following the service may do so in the Perry Atrium in Pettengill Hall.

We wish to thank Morgan’s friends, Peter Lasagna and Kerry Maloney for their thoughtful planning of this service.

Celeste Branham
Dean of Students

Bates safety and security teach area kids self-defense

Bates News — Tue, 02 Feb 1999 19:53:44 +0000

Three members of the Bates College Office of Security and Campus Safety are teaching a program of self-defense to area 5 to 7 year olds and their parents at Smart Start Developmental Child Care Center in Auburn from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. through Feb. 25.

Paul Menice, crime prevention coordinator at Bates, and security officers Christine Cuevas and Rick Gilbert are teaching participants how to recognize an emergency, how to contact a 911 dispatcher, how to communicate life-saving information to a dispatcher, how to use verbal and physical resistance against an assailant and how to identify potential assailants.

“We hope to raise awareness about safety and crime prevention to reduce the possibility that children will become victims,” Menice said. “We also hope to increase self-confidence in the children and to improve communication about safety and crime prevention between parents and their children.”

For more information on the Bates crime-prevention program at Smart Start Developmental Child Care Center, call the Bates College Office of Security and Campus Safety at 207-786-6254.