August 24, 2007—On May 9, 2007, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger directed three internal reviews in the wake of the April 16 tragedy on the Virginia Tech campus. He directed the chairs “to look at strengths and weaknesses of our existing systems/infrastructure and how they may be improved or augmented to address emergency situations that might arise in the future.”
These reviews were internal in structure and focus and not intended to be forensic in nature.
The security group recommended enhancements in physical infrastructure, emergency communications, emergency preparedness, and selected protocols.
Infrastructure recommendations included modification of building door hardware, installation of locks on general assignment classrooms, evaluating the utility of centrally controlled electronic key card access to key academic and administrative facilities (such as the system currently in place on all residence halls), constructing a public safety building combining the university police and rescue squad, and evaluating installation of centrally monitored video surveillance cameras.
Communications recommendations include mass notification techniques within classrooms and other locations, message board in key or high profile public areas and along major vehicular thoroughfares, a people locator system, and further articulation of the recently adopted VT Alerts notification system.
Emergency preparedness recommendations included updating the emergency preparedness plan, more frequent emergency exercises or drills, creation of building coordinators for emergencies, and identification of backups for the policy committee (university leadership with oversight of an emergency).
Protocols included increased education of the university community about appropriate emergency response actions and creation of a comprehensive security master plan and campus security committee.
For the full report, in PDF format, visit the campus Web site.
