After receiving the final report last week for the comprehensive review of the Department of Public Safety, Ball State officials are appointing an advisory group to study the report and prioritize its recommendations for improvement.
The 47-page report contains more than 100 suggestions concerning all of the department's operations, including community interaction, status and authority of the department, residence hall security, crime prevention and parking services. The report also makes recommendations concerning areas such as budgeting, training, organization, equipment and facilities.
Rex Rakow and Susan Riseling, directors of public safety for Notre Dame and Wisconsin-Madison universities respectively, worked as consultants and issued the report as the culmination of a six-month study.
Some changes have been made already as a result of the review. Such changes have included the new parking boot policy, a motorist assist program, which provides help for people with car problems, and increased interaction with students at orientation programs.
But Dean of Students Randy Hyman said most of the suggestions will require further research before they are implemented.
"Some recommendations lend themselves to closer study for determination on whether they are feasible or within Ball State University's best interest,"
Hyman said he plans to appoint a small group to review and identify the most important recommendations. Hyman said he did not know how many people would participate in the group. The group should finish its work in 30 days, he said.
He said the university will avoid incorporating most of the suggested changes into practice until a permanent director of public safety is named in the fall.
"We are sensitive to not doing anything too quickly with these recommendations until we know who the director is going to be," Hyman said. "We want to give the new director an opportunity to become actively involved in the future of the department."
The study is the first of its kind for the Department of Public Safety. Hyman said that such studies are not limited to the Department of Public Safety and that all university departments participate in similar program reviews.
The first phase of the three-part comprehensive review began in January and required an appointed group of five departmental staff members to develop a written self-study that followed an outline given to them by the university.
"It lays out broad parameters regarding the department's mission, function and role within the university," Hyman said. "It makes observations about strengths and weaknesses."
The 60-page self study was completed in mid-March, Hyman said, and was passed on to three focus groups for the second phase.
Phase two included two faculty and staff focus groups and one student focus group.
All focus group members were recommended from the Office of Student Affairs and other university departments.
"I wanted a broad cross-section of people," Hyman said. "The most important consideration is that these people had previous interaction with the Department of Public Safety."
Fifteen people were invited for each group. Twelve people participated in each of the faculty and staff groups, and eight participants attended the student focus group.
Each focus group met for 90 minutes and were led by two facilitators, Jay Zimmerman, associate director of Counseling and Psychological Services, and Sherry Woosley, senior analyst of the Office of Academic Assessment.
Zimmerman and Woosley wrote another report that was given to Rakow and Riseling upon their arrival to Ball State in mid-May.
Rakow and Riseling were chosen upon recommendation from leaders in campus safety and law enforcement from other campuses, Hyman said.
Rakow and Riseling participated in over 20 meetings in two days with various campus leaders and administrators and then issued their final report with suggestions and recommendations to Hyman last week.
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