Blondin said Clark State will increase security efforts with the help of local police forces in collaboration with Matt Franz, vice president of information technologies and safety, and Tom Duffee, risk management coordinator, who is charged with safety operations on campus.
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Duffee said safety is a collective responsibility and Clark State relies on every member of its campus to contribute to security by using a common sense approach and reporting suspicious activity when observed.
“We are constantly surveying our current processes and infrastructure to determine how we may improve safety awareness and response,” said Duffee. “Our goal is to support an overriding culture of safety - trying to anticipate and prevent emergency incidents from the everyday issues to the most catastrophic.”
In 2017, Clark State implemented additional safety measures including; hand-held radios, notification beacons, use of office phones as emergency alerting devices and additional security cameras.
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“Our hearts are with everyone impacted by the tragic events in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas,” said Nina Wiley, dean of student engagement and support services. “As a community we continue to work together to offer resources and supportive services to our students, faculty and staff.”
Counseling services will be available at no cost through the Clark State Counseling Coordinator, Melinda VanNoord. VanNoord is available by phone at 937-328-7961 and email at vanndoordm@clarkstate.edu. She is a licensed professional clinical counselor.
Walk-in services are also available at the Springfield campus. Appointments can be made for services at the Clark State Bellefontaine, Beavercreek and Xenia locations.
“We are doing everything possible to keep our campus locations safe in all areas that we serve,” Blondin said.
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