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The Weekly Snapshot
Your source for the latest tips, information, and current campus safety resources from the NCCPS.
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Thanksgiving Reflection
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all campus safety and security, law enforcement, and emergency management professionals for your service. You work diligently to ensure your campus is a safe place for community members and visitors. We hope you have a safe and joyous Thanksgiving!
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Holiday Season Health and Safety
This time of year can be busy and stressful, but also a time to enjoy and celebrate traditions with loved ones. Many students, faculty, staff, and other community members travel to be with their friends or families for the holidays. The following tips and resources may be used to help you and your community prepare for the holidays, travel, and winter weather.
Working in extreme weather can be hazardous to those without adequate training, clothing, and gear. To minimize and avoid injuries, campus safety, law enforcement, grounds, emergency management and other professionals working outdoors should take precautions such as:
- Wear multiple layers of moisture-wicking clothing and outer gear, and remember to always protect your head, hands and feet.
- Drink plenty of fluids because cold weather suppresses thirst and dehydration can occur without proper fluid intake.
- Take periodic breaks to warm up, especially if wind velocity increases or the temperature drops.
- Carry an extra supply of hand and feet warmers, batteries, and flashlights.
- Learn the symptoms of cold-related injuries: heavy shivering followed by no shivering; severe fatigue; confusion and disorientation; blue skin; and slowed pulse and breathing.
- Ensure you and your staff members aren't exposed to extreme weather conditions such as freezing temperatures and windchill for a dangerous amount of time (the National Weather Service provides a user-friendly windchill chart and calculator to estimate safe exposure times).
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's Ready Campaign
website
offers information and resources on
Winter Storms and Extreme Cold
to help you prepare for and learn from winter storms, and a
Winter Weather Safety Social Media Toolkit
that contains winter weather safety and preparedness messages you can share on your social media channels. You can either copy the messages directly or customize them for your community.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide
Holiday Health and Safety Tips
on traveling safely, managing stress, preparing for winter weather, preventing injuries, handling food, and more. The tips are also provided in
Spanish
and can be downloaded or printed to share.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Police Department provides tips for campus community members to consider when leaving for break, including:
- Lock the doors and windows to your residence hall, house, apartment or office and take all keys with you.
- Take valuable personal property home with you. If you leave anything of value in your home or office, secure it in a locked closet or cabinet. Store your bike in a legal and secure location using a U-lock.
- Prepare your vehicle for any road trips and check for any safety issues like fluid levels or tire pressure. If you're leaving a car on campus find a well-lit spot where you can park it, remove all valuables, and lock the doors.
- Talk to your roommates about when everyone is coming and going.
- If you stay on campus, keep an eye out for any suspicious persons or activities and call your campus safety or police department if you see anything that doesn't seem quite right.
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Good News! There's Still Time to Register for Our Upcoming Webinar
We hope you are able to join us on
Tuesday, December 1st
when we welcome back
Marisa R. Randazzo
, Ph.D., to discuss
Behavioral Threat Assessment on Campus: What You Need to Know
. Dr. Randazzo is a national expert on behavioral threat assessment and targeted violence and is a managing partner at
Sigma Threat Management Associates
.
In this next free webinar from our
Campus Public Safety Online
series, Dr. Randazzo will provide an overview of best practices in campus threat assessment, components of effective programs, and steps in the process to guide your campus to success. She will address important questions such as 'does your campus have the ability to address threatening behavior from students, employees, or external sources?' and 'does your process meet current best practices for campus violence prevention?'
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Download the Town Hall Meeting Flyer (PDF) here.
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Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings to Prevent Underage and High-risk Drinking
Communities Talk:
Town Hall Meeting
s
to
Prevent Underage and High-risk Drinking
is a biennial
SAMHSA sponsored program that aims to educate and mobilize communities across the country to take evidence-based actions in the fight against underage drinking.
Town Hall Meetings can promote campus and community partnership, faculty and student support, and compliance with the
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act
(PDF) review requirements.
Communities Talk
has had success with institutions of higher education as past hosts. In 2014, over 110 institutions of higher education participated. Read about achievements other institutions have had hosting the event
here
and
here
. In addition to campus support, numerous national organizations have supported this SAMHSA initiative by encouraging affiliates to participate and providing resources of their own. Some of these organizations include:
Campus hosts are eligible for
a $500 planning stipend
to plan one or more Town Hall Meetings at any time throughout the year
.
However, a limited number of stipends are available that will be distributed on a first-come, first-served, basis beginning in January 2016.
Campus communities that wish to receive a SAMHSA invitation in January 2016 may contact
Tom Colthurst
, SAMHSA Consultant, for additional information.
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| Click to access our online calendar of events. |
Professional Development Opportunities
Title: 2016 NASPA Strategies Conference: Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Prevention
Host: NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
Dates: January 21-23, 2016
Location: Orlando, FL
Fee: Registration fee
Title:
Introductory Crime Prevention Course
Host: Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
Dates: February 22-26, 2016
Location:
North Chesterfield, VA
Fee: Free
Title: 14
th
Annual Depression on College Campuses Conference
Host: University of Michigan Depression Center
Dates: March 9-10, 2016
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Fee: Registration fee
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This project was supported by Grant No. 2013-MU-BX-K011 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice.
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