2008 Woodie Awards
At meeting, Faculty Senate discusses branding, arming officers
Robert Preliasco
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: News
03/28/08 - The longest topics of discussion at the University of Rhode Island Faculty Senate meeting yesterday were the arming of campus police officers, branding the university's image and freshmen admissions.
Professor Paul Arakelian asked URI President Robert L. Carothers about campus safety during the president's address of the Senate.
Arakelian said that the university's EmergencyAlert notification system is a good step, but asked if there are specific plans about what students and faculty should do during any attack on the campus by a gunman. He asked if URI police would respond since they are unarmed, whether students should flee a building under attack and if there could be any legal liability if someone uses force against an attacker.
He also wanted to know how long it may take South Kingstown police to respond and what they would do when they arrive.
Carothers said that the university is working to address those questions but did not have any specific answers. He mentioned a bill currently before the Rhode Island State Senate that, if passed, would require all campus police at the state's colleges, which includes URI, to carry firearms. Carothers and most of the faculty senate are opposed to the bill but he said that he expects it to pass.
"Arming the campus police is inevitable. Since 9/11 and now since these shootings, [arming campus police] will happen," Carothers said.
An armed police force would create a financial problem because of the cost of the firearms and also for a special training process for the officers.
The senate did not discuss this problem further and went on to hear progress reports from its committees. Professor Ruby Dholakia and Director of Communications Linda Acciardo presented an update on URI's branding initiative, which has been going on for 15 months.
Dholakia said URI has suffered from a "brand gap," meaning that peoples' perception of the school does not match its actual quality.
Professor Paul Arakelian asked URI President Robert L. Carothers about campus safety during the president's address of the Senate.
Arakelian said that the university's EmergencyAlert notification system is a good step, but asked if there are specific plans about what students and faculty should do during any attack on the campus by a gunman. He asked if URI police would respond since they are unarmed, whether students should flee a building under attack and if there could be any legal liability if someone uses force against an attacker.
He also wanted to know how long it may take South Kingstown police to respond and what they would do when they arrive.
Carothers said that the university is working to address those questions but did not have any specific answers. He mentioned a bill currently before the Rhode Island State Senate that, if passed, would require all campus police at the state's colleges, which includes URI, to carry firearms. Carothers and most of the faculty senate are opposed to the bill but he said that he expects it to pass.
"Arming the campus police is inevitable. Since 9/11 and now since these shootings, [arming campus police] will happen," Carothers said.
An armed police force would create a financial problem because of the cost of the firearms and also for a special training process for the officers.
The senate did not discuss this problem further and went on to hear progress reports from its committees. Professor Ruby Dholakia and Director of Communications Linda Acciardo presented an update on URI's branding initiative, which has been going on for 15 months.
Dholakia said URI has suffered from a "brand gap," meaning that peoples' perception of the school does not match its actual quality.