April

You asked. She answered.

President Janine Davidson responds to questions about campus safety that she didn’t have time to address at the Spring Update.

April 3, 2018

At the Spring Update on March 13, President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., fielded questions on three primary topics: inclusive leadership, legislative funding and campus safety. She also took questions from the crowd and via social media. In an effort to answer the questions she couldn’t get to that day, she has agreed to share her responses in the Early Bird over the next several weeks.

Questions:

Is there someone at MSU Denver whose job is dedicated to emergency preparedness? A coordinator or other staff member?

When emergency procedures are created, are we considering the student employees that work most of our front desks? Welcome desk, Tutoring Center ... they would be hurt first.

President Davidson:

Campus safety is my top priority, and I am doing everything in my power to ensure that our learning community remains secure.

Mark Pokorny, our environmental and emergency-preparedness manager, is the key contact person for campus safety. You can reach him with any questions you have, to set up a training with the Auraria Campus Police Department or for more information on seminars put on by the Auraria Higher Education Center. Here’s his contact information: 303-556-5040 or mpokorn1@msudenver.edu.

Mark also heads up our emergency-preparedness committee. Other committee members include Braelin Pantel, dean of students and associate vice president for Student Engagement and Wellness; Brian Bagwell, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Human Services; Jennifer Bradford, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice; Nick Pistentis, director of client services for Information Technology Services; and Tiffany Bathrick, benefits coordinator for Human Resources.

I also really appreciate the question on student employees, who are value contributors to our work across campus and often do sit in public-facing areas. I expect the leader of each department to ensure that all their employees – including students – are aware of the latest campuswide emergency procedures as well as their department’s specific plan. Supervisors, please also ensure that student workers have pertinent phone numbers in case of emergency. Auraria Police can be reached by calling 303-556-5000 or texting 720-593-TIPS (8477).

If you have other ideas on how to keep our campus safe, please share via the idea catcher on my webpage.