In the wake of numerous violent incidents on and near the University of Wisconsin campus in the last year, students and administrators alike are looking for answers to their safety concerns.
A group of officials representing UW administration, housing, police, the Associated Students of Madison Safety Committee and University Health Services will meet today to discuss some of those campus safety issues.
"What we're hoping to do is to really be able to have an open, honest discussion about safety and policies and figure out who needs to be at the table to talk about those issues and be on the same page as far as what needs to done," said Interim Associate Dean of Students Elton Crim, who spearheaded the initiative.
Crim added the meeting would be the first event of its kind with "everybody that might have an invested interest with campus safety."
It will also be the first large-scale administrative meeting focusing on campus safety issues since Lori Berquam was named permanent dean of students Feb. 15. Berquam, who held the position on an interim basis since July 2005, came under scrutiny from some campus leaders during the dean of students search for not doing enough to address the problem.
However, after being named the permanent dean, Berquam pointed to today's meeting as a major step in alleviating students' concerns.
Berquam said the group would aim to bring together multiple opinions for the common goal of safety.
"I hope we're able to accomplish some things and establish some strategies to address safety issues on campus," Berquam said.
According to Patrol Lt. Eric Holen of the UW Police Department, the collaborative nature of safety is nothing new to the university and its many services.
"We've done them in the past. It's not as much as a forum but a discussion to make sure we're doing the best we can do to look at safety issues," Holen said. "We talk about this a lot, but [Tuesday] particularly we'll be dealing with housing, and health services."
Crim said the forum was not scheduled as a reaction to any single incident on campus but rather the collective environment.
"I would say it's not directly in response to any one incident, but it is in response to the general feeling that something has changed about safety in and around the campus area," Crim said.
Nonetheless, Holen said recent campus incidents would be addressed today.
"Of course the things that have happened recently will be discussed, but we have [these discussions] periodically," Holen said. "These are things we have periodical conversations about to make sure we're analyzing risk and doing things to mitigate those risks."
