Survey: 7% of Campus Security, Safety Programs Received Stimulus Funds

Published: March 11, 2010

Additionally, in the next two years, 15 percent of Campus Safety Stimulus Survey respondents expect their institutions to receive Recovery Act funding, and 16 percent expect to receive non-stimulus/general funds/grants from the federal, state or local government.

So far, less than a tenth (7 percent) of university, K-12 school and hospital public safety and security efforts have received Recovery Act money, while 15 percent will receive or hope to receive it in the next year or two, according to results from the Campus Safety magazine Stimulus Survey, which was released today. Nearly three out of four (70 percent) survey respondents said their institutions’ safety and security efforts did not receive stimulus funds this year and probably won’t anytime soon.

The study shows that the process of obtaining this money is confusing and challenging for many campus administrators and public safety professionals. Only 26 percent of those individuals who took the survey said their campuses had applied for or are in the process of applying for Recovery Act money. Even fewer public safety/security/emergency management departments (17 percent) have applied or are in the process of applying.

When asked why their institutions haven’t applied for stimulus funds, 26 percent of survey respondents said they don’t know how to apply. That percentage increased to 31 percent when respondents gave a reason for why their own departments didn’t apply. Twenty-six percent and 23 percent of respondents, respectively, said their campuses or departments don’t qualify for these grants.

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Applications for Construction, Training Grants Should Include Safety, Security
The perception that many campuses don’t qualify, however, may not be completely accurate, according to “The Stimulus: Take the Steps to Get Your Share”, which is featured in the March/April issue of Campus Safety magazine. “Part of the [stimulus] money for the hiring and training of teachers should include teacher emergency preparedness training and emergency notification,” says Campus Safety Executive Editor Robin Hattersley Gray. “Facility upgrades should include safety and security technology, crime prevention through environmental design and mass notification.”

Despite the fact that many universities, hospitals and schools and their safety/security departments aren’t going after stimulus funds, 67 percent of survey respondents said that compared to 2009, their public safety/security programs will have the same amount of money (38 percent) or more money (29 percent) to spend in 2010. When broken down by campus type, the results are:

  • Three out of four (75 percent) hospital respondents said they will have the same or more money (more, 31 percent; the same, 44 percent; and less, 25 percent)
  • 70 percent of universities will have the same or more to spend (more, 34 percent; the same, 36 percent; and less, 30 percent)
  • K-12 campus/district security programs will have it the hardest. More than half (51 percent) will have less money to spend on safety and security, while 29 percent will have the same and 20 percent will have more

Public Safety Remains a High Priority for Campus Administrators

The fact that more than two thirds of the survey’s respondents said they will have the same amount of money or more to devote to campus public safety, security and emergency management is an indication that these matters continue to be high priorities for campus administrators, says Gray.

“Considering the current deep recession we’re in, university, hospital and school officials still recognize the consequences and risk management issues that campuses would face if these security and safety measures weren’t in place,” she says.

Respondents were also asked if their institutions’ security and/or safety efforts received non-stimulus/general funds/grants from the federal, state or local government this year, and 14 percent said they had, either directly, indirectly, or both directly and indirectly. Another 16 percent said that although they haven’t received this type of money yet, they will or hope to in the next one to two years.

To see the charts, as well as suggestions on how campus safety, security and emergency management can tap into the stimulus and other grants, click here.

For additional survey results, click here

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