Governor Greg Abbott issued an order for immediate action to ensure safety on every college campus across the state.
He addressed the letter to the Texas High Education Coordination Board. It states, “We must act expeditiously and prudently to ensure that college campuses in Texas are safe places to study, work, and live,” Governor Abbott wrote. “These are important first steps to ensuring that junior college districts are meeting all requirements and have the best information available to help keep their campuses safe. Texas will continue to evaluate and improve our approach to ensure our students are safe.”
It continued with five recommended guidelines which include tools for awareness to students and staff, and code enforcement for each facility.
- Catalog and share all available information from TSSC on college campus safety, and distribute this information to all public junior college districts and universities. Also, distribute this information to private and proprietary institutions of higher education.
- Ensure that all public junior college districts are in compliance with statutorily required school safety audits and multi-hazard emergency operations plans. Specifically, ensure school safety audits have been submitted to TSSC, contain a multi-hazard emergency operations plan, and cover all school facilities, both instructional and non-instructional.
- Publish on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Website and via agency press release a list of any public junior college districts that do not satisfy the requirements of their 2015 audit referenced in point two above within 45 days of notice by THECB.
- Ensure that all public junior college districts have made satisfactory progress toward completion of their statutorily required safety and security audits, due September 15, 2018. In light of recent events, encourage early submission of these audits to TSSC.
- Work with TSSC, the Department of Public Safety, and my office to draft recommendations to the Texas Legislature on policy changes to keep students safe.
Texas Tech University Chancellor Robert Duncan said each one of their campuses provide several safety programs for students and faculty.
“In any event, we’ve gone through a very thorough evaluation of our existing safety systems,” Duncan said. “Working with the DPS and there will be some changes we’ll be implementing that will be a result of that as well.”
The majority TTU students who spoke to EverythingLubbock.com said they generally feel safe on campus.
The University currently uses a mobile alert system to notify students and staff of any active situation on campus.
