Purpose
Statement
The purpose of this study is threefold: to determine (a)
how a state college, a public university, and a private institution report or
identify safety issues on campus, (b) the resources and programs utilized by
those institutions to respond to the identified safety issues, and (c) whether
the selected measures affect the number of crimes or safety issues occurring on
campuses at a state college, a public university, and a private institution.
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime
Statistics Act or “Clery Act” combined with the Campus Safety Act of 2009 and
the National Center for Campus Public Safety are both laws that require
institutions that receive federal funding to disclose criminal statistics and
create solutions to combat such issues or face penalties for non-compliance (US
Department of Education, 2017). As safety issues continue to rise and show
concern for all, institutions must continue to improve levels of safety and
include stakeholders in the process for awareness, positive progression, and
academic success (Nelson, 2017; Henshaw, 2017).
Research
Questions
The following questions will guide this study.
1. How are campus safety issues and related incidents on
campus reported and categorized at a state college, a public university, and a
private institution?
2. What resources and programs are utilized to respond
to the identified safety issues at a state college, a public university, and a
private institution?
3. How do the selected measures affect the number of
crimes or safety issues occurring on campus at a state college, a public
university, and a private institution?
4. How does the surrounding environment or geographical
location of the institution affect the crimes occurring on or around the college
campus and the statistics reported?
Potential Research Design
My research design will first
require some background research on the safety issues reported on the selected campuses
(3 institutions). This information will
be obtained from the federally mandated information site that requires
institutions to report and publish safety issues occurring on campus and a
crime analysis report from the local police station. Once the safety issues have been identified,
research will be conducted to identify the responses and methods utilized by the
selected institutions to address these issues (if this information is not
published, interviews with institutional leaders or safety personnel will have
to be conducted).
Surveys will be
utilized to ascertain the number of students that have encountered (reported
and unreported) safety issues and crimes on and around campus. The surveys will also ask students if they are
knowledgeable about the programs and methods made available by the institution
to address and prevent safety issues. Additionally, students will be asked if
they have utilized the provided safety methods and services made available by
the institution. The survey will ask
students if they feel the provided methods are effective in decreasing safety
issues on campus. The comparison will be made to determine the percentage of
students that have reported safety issues, the number who have encountered
safety issues and did not report the incident, the number of students who
utilized services provided by the institutions to address safety issues, the
number of students that felt the institution’s services are current and
effective.
Institutional
leaders will be asked if they feel the available methods provided and selected
are helpful in combating the safety issues reported and whether there needs to
be more funding made available by the government to adequately address safety
issues and provide more or better programs to students regarding their safety. Institutional leaders will also be asked to
elaborate on what needs to be done to increase safety on their campus and the
type of support needed to reach those goals.
A comparison can
then be made to the services selected and provided by the institution to combat
safety issues with the number of students that feel safe while on campus based on
the services provided and offered. This can ultimately help institutional
leaders determine if the selected services and programs are effective at making
students feel safe on campus and if not, the results may provide an option to appeal
for increased funding, grants for training, and additional guidelines from the
government, to assist institutions with providing safer campuses to all
stakeholders.
This research
design will include surveys which will have closed-ended questions and will
conclude with a data analysis (quantitative). Additionally, interviews will have to be
conducted with institutional leaders of the selected institutions with
open-ended questions (qualitative). Therefore, this study will be a mixed-methods design, which is most
appropriate because a better analysis can be made to more adequately present
the information collected to address the research problem.
References
Henshaw,
A. (2017). Campus explorer: Campus safety. Retrieved from
http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/3C268085/Campus-Safety/
Nelson,
V. (2017). College parent central: Legislation for campus safety: Reassurance
for parents of college students. Retrieved from https://www.collegeparentcentral.com/2009/06/legislation-for-campus-safety-reassurance-for-parents-of-college-students/
US
Department of Education (2017). Federal student aid. Retrieved from
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/school/clery-act-reports
