The following is a statement written by Police Lt. Ryan Woods of Santa Fe College:
“I am proud to be part of the induction of the Campus Safety Commission for AFC. I have been in campus public safety since 1998. I feel just as excited and blessed to have to opportunity to work at a community college as I did the first day I was hired. I believe that no matter our individual titles, we all play a part in helping our students fulfill their academic goals. About two years ago, I was at a campus law enforcement conference in Greenville, South Carolina. At that conference, I met Hank Shirah from Pensacola State College and Ron DaSilva from Hillsborough Community College.During our time there, we talked about issues and challenges affecting our institutions. They each had great insight and ideas about campus safety. I felt honored to get to know them. After I returned home, I thought how ironic it was that the three of us work for member institutions of the great 28, and we had to go to South Carolina to meet each other. One of the main goals this year and years to follow is networking. There is no reason that we cannot develop consistent dialogue between our colleges. The time to get know our counterparts at another school is not during a crisis. We should establish relationships with of member institutions before something happens. No matter the size of the college or the location, there are some fundamental issues we all have in common when it comes to campus safety. Our open door policies provide great opportunities of higher learning that some of our students would never have access to achieving without the Florida College System. With that being said, our open door policies present challenges as well. We all deal with those challenges on a daily basis. I think the biggest goal this year is educating the Florida College System of how many areas of our colleges should be a part of the Campus Safety Commission. Some examples include student affairs, IT, facilities, counseling, student government, and academic affairs. Campus safety should be part of a holistic goal of each institution. As members, we will be able to recognize and promote the safety, security and well-being of our collective institutions through active participation and training provided by this commission. Those training sessions will be a combination of webinars, and onsite presentations at conference. It will be a collective effort to ensure we are developing and promoting the industry’s best practices. Another goal this year is to get information from each college about what are they doing in the realm of public safety. As we move forward with this information, we will develop a best practices award. This award will recognize a member institution innovation and/or extraordinary programs in the area of campus safety. I am honored to be your chair.”
For other information see the latest issue of ‘News You Can Use, Associaton of Florida Colleges‘ most current issue here: Professional Development