Lennon Dissertation Blog Post # 4 - Potential Research Design

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 

Dissertation Blog Post #3 - Purpose Statement and Research Questions

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between higher educational institutions reporting or identifying specified safety issues on campus; and the resources and programs utilized by those institutions to respond to the identified safety issues and ascertain if the selected measures are influencing a decrease or increase on crimes or safety issues occurring on campuses. 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 reported on campuses and then categorized for statistical purposes (are all crimes labeled and reported the same by various institutions)?

2. How frequently do the institutions measure the selected methods chosen to respond and combat safety issues with the current issues and progression to decreasing crime?

3. How does the surrounding environment or geographical location of the institution influence the crimes occurring or around the college campus and the statistics reported?

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 

Lennon - Dissertation Blog Post #2

     The problem of institutions and institutional leaders addressing safety issues on campus and providing solutions to improve safety on campus is grounded in the Communities of Practice (CoP) theory.  This theory was originally developed by Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave in 1991 and was primarily used to study individuals who not only share similar interest in a particular subject, but also interact regarding that subject by sharing ideas to further develop, improve, and create better solutions (Learning Theories, 2014).

     I feel this theory is appropriate because it recognizes the three necessities to be considered a CoP: 1. –Domain (or a shared interest) which in this instance is the institutional leaders who share a common bond of wanting stakeholders to be safe while on campus; 2. –Community (members of the domain share information amongst one another) which in this instance is the various institutional leaders and campus security of various campuses sharing their plan of how they address safety issues on campus; and 3. –Practice (sharing helpful tools), which encompasses the domain and community to interact and share information for problem solving (Learning Theories, 2014).

References:

Learning Theories. 2014. Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger). Retrieved from: https://www.learning-theories.com/communities-of-practice-lave-and-wenger.html  

Lennon Blog Dissertation Post #1

Problems Statement

Safety issues continue to evolve and rise on higher institutional campuses and leaders are tasked with developing and implementing ways to address such issues.

Statement of the Problem

Higher educational institutions have a responsibility to provide safety measures to students while on campus (Clery Center, 2017). As safety issues arise and are identified, institutions are required by federal regulations to disclose such issues to current and prospective students (McNeal, 2006).  More specifically, the Clery Act, mandates institutions, that partake in federal funding, to provide statistical data to stakeholders annually on criminal issues that have occurred on campuses, with the inclusion of ways in which to improve such issues (Clery Center, 2017).   Gun violence, sexual assaults, and alcohol-related crimes have been identified as continuous issues associated with reported incidents linked to college students while on campus (Dameron, Detardo-Bora, & Bora, 2009). Other issues surrounding the Clery Act are added as technology advances and crime progresses, which prompts the enhancements of dated laws to create newer laws, such as the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Myers, Nelson, & Forke, 2016). Therefore, institutions have addressed such issues in various ways to include providing knowledge and awareness about the issues, incorporating crisis preparedness plans, and combating certain laws related to concealed weapons permitted on campus (Patten, Thomas, & Wada, 2013).

More specifically, a firearm-related study, consisting of police chiefs of college campuses, who are tasked with providing safety on campus, demonstrated that 25% had been met with a gun-related incident on campus within the time frame of a year (Thompson, Price, Mrdjenovich, & Khubchandani, 2009). The controversy of allowing or banning concealed weapons on college campuses has been an ongoing debate as there are increased reports of suicides and mass shootings on college campuses (Thompson et. al, 2009). According to Hope (2015), many leaders of higher institutions are against concealed weapons being carried on campus as a way of protection. Despite the argument over constitutional rights and the wants of students regarding their safety, the argument of allowing concealed weapons on campus continues to gain controversy. A study conducted by Patten, Thomas, and Wada (2013), utilizing surveys to collect data, indicated that 70% of students and faculty felt unsafe and therefore did not want concealed firearms allowed on campus.

References

Clery Center, (2017). At the heart of campus safety. Retrieved from: http://clerycenter.org/about-page/

Dameron, S. L., Detardo-Bora, K., & Bora, D. J. (2009). An assessment of campus security and police information on college/university websites. Security Journal, 22(4), 251-268. Retrieved from: doi:10.1057/palgrave.sj.8350082

Hope, J. (2015).  Prepare for the implications on campus of concealed carry laws. Campus Security Report 12(3), 1-5. Retrieved from: 10.1002/casr.30062

McNeal, L. R. (2006). Clery Act: Road to compliance. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 19(3-4), 105-113. doi: 10.1007/s11092-007-9042-7

Myers, R. K., Nelson, D. B., & Forke, C. M. (2016). Occurrence of Stalking Victimization Among Female and Male Undergraduate Students, Journal of College Student Development, 57(2), 213-218. doi: 1826533795

Patten, R., Thomas, M. O., & Wada, J. C. (2013). Packing heat: Attitudes regarding concealed weapons on college campuses. American Journal of Criminal Justice : AJCJ, 38(4), 551-569. doi: 10.1007/s12103-012-9191-1

Thompson, A., Price, J. H, Mrdjenovich, A., & Khubchandani, J. (2009). Reducing firearm-related violence on college campuses-police chiefs' perceptions and practices. Journal of American College Health, 58(3), 247-254. doi: 848215802