MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia University Faculty Senate met Monday and raised concerns about campus safety.
Mandy Weirich, Online Program Coordinator, Gerontology Program Coordinator, and Clinical Instructor from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, brought up classroom and building security issues that included a lack of cameras and the ability to shelter in place in the event of an active shooter.
“I think every instructor in every classroom should have the ability to lock the door while they’re teaching a class,” Weirich said. “If you have an active shooter, it’s just a turkey shoot.”
She described a classroom that cannot be locked and lacks the type of furniture that could be used to barricade a door. She said many classrooms and door layouts are completely different, making security difficult for the occupants and likely complicating a response by police.
“Most of the classrooms don’t have doors that lock; they open the wrong way,” Weirich said. “You can’t barricade because there’s no furniture to use, and there is nothing in the classroom that can be used to barricade.”
University Police Chief Sherry St. Clair said enhanced campus security is her priority, and getting more security cameras is a top priority. She described a camera that can automate searching large volumes of footage for a suspect with a system aided by artificial intelligence.
“The president asked me what my top priority is, and it’s cameras,” St. Clair said. “My top priority is to get more cameras out there and also look for a system with an AI feature.”
Daniel Brewster, a teaching assistant professor from the Eberly College Department of Sociology and Anthropology, said campus safety and security has been a topic of discussion for the last decade. Over that time metal detectors have been added, some security cameras have been added, and the LiveSafe app has been made available to the entire campus. But, Brewster said the opinions are mixed among the faculty on adding more cameras.
“For every 50 people that want more cameras, there are 50 more that don’t want more cameras,” Brewster said. “It’s crazy—the disconnect between some people’s experiences.”
The non-standard nature of the classroom from building to building is something St. Clair is aware of and working on. She talks about plans to conduct a walk through to identify situations that should be corrected and develop security plans. She said many of these problems have been encountered during active shooter training held by UPD.
“That’s come to light, and we’ve talked about going from building to building and classroom to classroom to develop a game plan, so that is in talks,” St. Clair said.