OU ranked as one of Michigan's safest college campuses
StateUniversity.com, an online college information clearinghouse, has ranked Oakland University as the second safest campus among Michigan’s four-year institutions. The ratings are part of a nationwide study the website conducted based on campus crime reports from 450 colleges and universities.
According to a press release issued by the website, the safety ratings consider the likelihood that any individual student will be victimized by aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, theft, larceny, motor vehicle theft, forcible rape or murder on his or her campus. Occurrences of violent crime more negatively impact a campus’ safety rating than non-violent crime.
Oakland University Police Chief Samuel Lucido said that because no academic or campus community endeavor can be successful without a strong sense of safety and security, protecting faculty, staff, students and visitors on campus has always been the university’s highest priority.
“Studying, enhancing and communicating campus safety procedures is an ongoing process that we simply never take a break from,” Lucido explained.
“We’re fortunate that an extremely dedicated team of professionals from across the university has helped put our extensive public safety system in place, but we know that constant vigilance and efforts to improve the system are critical to protecting the welfare of everyone on this campus.”
Just an abbreviated list of protocols and initiatives in place include:
Immediate emergency reporting by phone, text message or e-mail
More than a dozen dedicated emergency telephones throughout campus
An online behavioral concerns reporting system
A multi-tiered campus emergency communication system
Comprehensive and widely distributed emergency preparedness guides
The Nightwatch university housing security program
Campuswide distribution of desktop emergency response guides
Sexual assault awareness programs offered by numerous university offices
Self-defense education programs
Campus violence response presentations
Ongoing emergency response training scenarios
Authors of the StateUniversity.com study note that there is virtually no correlation between a college’s size, academic reputation and safety rating.
“Among the top 50 safest schools, you won't see many well-known national universities commonly found atop college ranking lists,” the press release states. “In fact, the large state universities and prestigious colleges that are ‘household names’ in many parts of the country are scattered all over the list.”
The 2011 rankings for the state of Michigan are available by clicking here.
StateUniversity.com, an online college information clearinghouse, has ranked OU as the second safest campus among Michigan’s four-year institutions.
Created by Katherine Land - Deleted (land@oakland.edu) on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 Modified by David Groves (groves@oakland.edu) on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 Article Start Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
