September 2003 — Special Feature
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A Pragmatic Approach to High-Tech Security on Campus
Although the nature of campus life has changed dramatically over the last few decades, an institution's challenge of developing a safe, dynamic learning environment has not. Campus riots of the '70s have been replaced by fears of crime, terrorism and natural disasters. While electronic surveillance has proven to be extremely useful at apprehending offenders, the preventive side of technological solutions still has a long way to go. One thing is clear: Technology's importance continues to grow on campus just as it has in the government and private sectors.
The challenges are as interesting as they are frustrating. Budgetary constraints aside, many universities are reluctant to discuss their safety measures for a couple of reasons. First, student and staff safety, while critical, is not usually a topic educators want to discuss publicly for fear of revealing their methods to would-be perpetrators. Secondly, to admit that a school is looking for a new public-safety solution is to acknowledge that a problem actually exists. However, the fact still remains that campuses face a formidable challenge in communicating with their student body. In the event of an emergency, for example, faculty and staff now rely on everything from driving around campus with a megaphone to manually placing calls to students.
New Model of Technology Awareness
Since the events of Sept. 11, campus administrators either have been forced or volunteered to adopt more stringent technological systems. This technology is being integrated to help train their students for IT security careers, track students due to government mandates and communicate with students in the event of an emergency. The challenge is complex, especially considering how decentralized a campus' security, IT and safety systems are today.
Campus security forces are rarely integrated, according to Jack Pellicci, group vice president of business development for Oracle's government, education and healthcare division, "We're trying to urge schools to consolidate their security forces into one responsible overarching agency, including a school's campus, security and cyber police forces."
Pellicci believes that focusing on technology in the telephony field - keeping students informed of dangerous events or situations - is one of the best ways to prevent, or at worst, reduce the effects of a dangerous or life-threatening situation. He says the new model of technology awareness is being led by the roughly 50 schools designated as Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by The National Security Agency, which offers NSA Information Assurance certificates to schools that qualify.
According to NSA, the Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program "is intended to reduce vulnerabilities in the national information infrastructure by promoting higher education in information assurance and producing a growing number of professionals with information assurance expertise in various disciplines." In addition, universities designated as centers are eligible to apply for federal scholarships and grants.
