smithshelbyk

Health and Safety at Ithaca College

In general, I feel safe at Ithaca college. It is well lit at night, and every 100 feet or so there is a blue light system. The blue light system is a literal blue light that alerts a student to a phone that they can use in order to contact the office of public safety for a variety of reasons. There are more than 95 blue light systems across the campus. This has been extremely helpful in past years when students need to contact the office of public safety. In addition, all students are given emergency numbers on their dorm room doors, and they are also posted in several places around campus. The student auxiliary safety patrol also helps contribute to student safety, and they patrol from 9:00 pm to 3:00 am every day. The college also has installed a swipe key card system, in which students can only gain entry to buildings in which they are a resident or have been approved. This helps prevent outside crime and other students from breaking in to rooms. There is also an emergency notification system that the college uses to alert students, staff, and faculty to urgent situations. They may be notified via email, phone, and/or text message as well as a message over the campus loudspeaker, which can even be heard outside the confines of the campus. One of the issues that Ithaca College struggles with is student safety off campus. Although the college does what it can to ensure its students well-being, students often have issues with late-night transportation on the weekends when they attend social events or parties. Last year, on a cold winter's night, an intoxicated freshman girl was walking back up to campus alone after a party because the buses had stopped running. She passed out, and presumably froze to death. In light of these events, the college has begun to work more closely with the local bus system, and the bus company has recently announced they will be extending late-night services on the weekend, hopefully reducing the problem. In addition to negotiating with the bus company, Ithaca College has also instituted a Medical Amnesty Policy. By calling the medical amnesty hotline, a student can receive medical attention related to alcohol and drug use without judicial consequences, provided that the fill certain requirements such as a follow up session regarding their use and they do not use the policy more than once.