“From compliance mandates and campus culture to cyber security and access control, practitioners and solutions providers give their predictions on where the industry is headed.”
Why this is important: After another violence-ridden year for schools across the country, it is helpful to see that some safety and security experts predict a decrease in school violence in 2023, motivated, in part, by new federal, state, and local funding for the implementation of violence prevention strategies.
In Ohio, for example, as this article highlights, the Attorney General has funded training in security and vulnerability assessments (“SVA”) by law enforcement officers for their local schools. Under the Safety and Violence Educations Students (“SAVE Students”) Act, enacted by the Ohio General Assembly to mandate school security and youth suicide awareness education and training, all school buildings in grades six through 12 must have a threat assessment team (“TAT”). Separately, for qualified schools, Ohio House Bill 110 provides grant funding for security enhancements to prevent and prepare for acts of terrorism while the Ohio School Safety Center provides access to TAT training at no cost.
While factors like location, community demographics, and design of campus facilities and grounds, among others, prevent a one-solution-fits-all model for achieving campus safety and security, this article posits that state or national clearinghouses of qualified vendors to help schools utilize these funds in a responsible and effective manner would be a helpful starting point.
Experts predict that conversations around mental health and its impact on campus safety will continue. While the engagement and retention of qualified mental health professionals remains a critical priority for schools, other departments can contribute to the solution. At Widener University, for example, this article shares how campus safety and police have reframed their approach to include collaboration with student organizations, the use of comfort k9s, and social media to foster community connections and to create a culture of belonging.
In the cybersecurity realm, experts predict that threats to higher education institutions will continue to rise and, in turn, schools must strengthen their defensive position through appropriate staffing, funding, campus training, and measures like enhanced system user authentication. In 2023, identifying the user behind the device will be an increasingly important aspect of enterprise security according to this article.
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