Campus Safety Committee

 

In response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, Governor Bill Richardson directed the New Mexico Higher Education Department to establish a Higher Education Campus Safety Task Force. Thirty-two people died as a result of a student gunman on the Virginia Tech campus. The task force included leadership from the state’s public safety and higher education departments as well as representation from colleges and universities and law enforcement agencies across the state. In June 2007, the task force submitted its preliminary recommendations to Governor Richardson, including the formation of a permanent Campus Safety Committee and the establishment of three subcommittees: Emergency Management; Mitigation, Protocols and Infrastructure, and Accreditation.

 

The New Mexico Higher Education Department is working with the state’s colleges and universities to ensure adequate safety measures are in place. These measures include having safety, disaster response, and crisis communications plans in place and updated regularly. Governor Richardson and the New Mexico Higher Education Department are committed to creating a safe learning and working environment for all New Mexicans.

 

Campus Safety Committee Members

 

 

Campus Safety Listserve

An e-mail listserve has been launched to help disseminate campus safety information in New Mexico. The service also provides information on training opportunities, legislative issues, emergency management, etc., for New Mexico’s campuses. To be added, send an e-mail to NMSU’s Deputy Chief of Police Stephen Lopez at stephenL@nmsu.edu and provide the name(s), institution affiliation, and e-mail address(es) of the person(s) who should be included on the distribution. 

 

 

Joint Guidance has been issued by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human services on how FERPA and HIPAA apply to student health records. The guidance covers k-12 and higher education. The New Mexico Higher Education Campus Safety Mitigation, Protocols and Infrastructure Subcommittee included a request for this guidance as one of the recommendations in the subcommittee's report. This tool is now available.

 

U.S. Depts of Education and Health and Human Services Guidance on FERPA, HIPPA, December 2008