Looking Into Campus Safety

As your student voice on campus, the Clocktower is working on your behalf. Recently several issues came to the attention of the clocktower relating to Campus Safety, and so we researched several of them and talked to the people involved.

The first of these was the response to a student who emailed Campus safety about a cyber stalking incident perpetrated by a person who claimed to be a Union student. Dustin Sauder, Director of Campus Safety, responded over a week later, apologizing deeply for the delay and requesting to meet the student to follow up, an investigation  into the stalking was then opened which is still ongoing. When this delay was brought up to Director Sauder, he said that he has improved his email responses so that he can better prioritize and manage his incoming emails so this does not happen again.

Another concern was that of the fire drills in the dorms. Issues were found, as some people found it hard to hear the alarms, and there were some fire doors that needed to be shut, however, that is why Union has fire drills. They are conducted with the goal of finding problems such as these and correcting them.

Often Director Sauder has been seen patrolling campus, and this has brought up the question of if he has been appropriately fulfilling his administrative duties, as some student workers feel they have been doing some of the work he should be doing. This was Kim Canine’s response, emphasizing all he does behind the scenes “Campus Safety oversees the Clery Act, campus safety protocols, parking enforcement, card access to buildings, assists in behavioral discipline matters, Title IX cases, campus crisis planning, threat planning, as well as day to day service for needs on campus. While there is only one employee, the Director, he still supervises all of the student officers, nightly Securitas team, and does administrative work behind the scenes that may not be a parent to everyone. It is true that we rely on our student staff here at Union. We have been blessed with responsible student officers and contract with Sercuitas for evening shifts to assist in operating the office and safety needs of the campus."

In the interview with Director Sauder he said, “I am honored to be able to work in Campus Safety, while this semester has presented many challenges, I am confident in our continued growth. I am blessed to have such an amazing team to work with and look forward to the continued success on campus.”

As concerns such as these are brought to the attention of the leadership of Union College, they can be appropriately addressed as these were and improvements can be made accordingly. Best said by Director Sauder, “They genuinely appreciate feedback.”

• The Clocktower