Mark Umansky / SPPSSecurity systems all over campus have been subject to modification after the events of April 16, including 24 hour card swipe access to dorms.
While many university students will recognize specific changes, such as the around-the-clock locking of dorms and the VT Alert system, numerous other changes have been implemented that have likely gone unnoticed.
Though officials had expressed an increased interest in buffing up campus security after to April 16, strategies have since been officially employed at the university.
On May 9, 2007, President Charles Steger organized three internal reviews on the Tech campus. The groups, including the Security Infrastructure Group, Information and Communications Infrastructure Group, and Interface Group, each focus on a different aspect relating to the goal of strengthening safety and security on the Tech campus.
While the university agreed to make an attempt at every security recommendation offered by the three groups, Mark Owczarski, university spokesman, cited the prioritization of cost as the most prominent reason why some action will be taken sooner rather than later. Owczarski said a statewide budget cut has hurt the institution.
"We had to reduce our budget for this year at the governor's request, a quarter of the way through the budget year," Owczarski said. "Imagine planning to spend $100 over the course of one year, and then once you start to spend it, someone tells you that you only had $90 to start with."
The most noticeable changes for the student body were made by the Security Infrastructure Group, which looked into the current security systems in place around campus and came up with recommendations for improvement, as well as methods for preventing emergency situations from occurring. They also looked into the university's ability to communicate among its offices in the event of an emergency.
The group's recommendations include installing locks on classroom doors, installing centrally monitored video cameras, implementing the VT Alerts system, altering the hardware on academic building entrances, placing message boards in high profile areas and a better emergency preparedness plan, among other things.
Instead of the e-mail alert system of years past, students now receive message alerts on many other communication facets, reaching beyond their inbox. In the event of an emergency on the Tech campus, students, faculty and staff members will receive updates on the situation along with guidelines for the proper action to be taken.
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