New committee turns to LiveSafe app for enhanced campus safety
Founded this semester, the Thresher Alert Committee has introduced Bethel to the resource widely used by institutions across America.
As Bethel College continues to hone its focus on student safety, a new addition this academic year is the Thresher Alert Committee, created and implemented by Vice President for Student Life MeShonya Wren-Coleman.
This team, comprised of faculty and staff members across departments, meets monthly to address all things safety on campus for the entire Bethel community. The LiveSafe app is one primary way this committee has elected to create a more secure environment.
“Initially, we were looking for a better way to communicate to students and employees about emergencies,” said Janet Fulmer, director of human resources/compliance and Title IX coordinator.
“The old system wasn’t user friendly and it was cumbersome for the person sending out the emergency messages. The decision to switch was made even easier because of the additional features for students to communicate back to Bethel about emergencies.”
The LiveSafe app, created in 2013 and now used by countless college campuses of all sizes across the United States, contains student and employee cell phone numbers along with Bethel email addresses in order to communicate with everyone on campus. Students and employees are able to download the app to receive additional information, but it isn’t required at this time.
LiveSafe includes other features such as anonymously reporting suspicious activity, contacting after hours the on-call staff or calling 911, use of a panic alarm, utilizing SafeWalk or accessing the safety map that shows where safe spots are within a user’s location — such as a fire station, police station, and other public services.
The app is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
The SafeWalk feature is projected by the committee to be the most used by students. This will allow users to contact any of their phone contacts and allow them to virtually watch them walk to and from their destination and ensure the original user arrives at their destination safely.
This also works if a Bethel student or employee decides to go to Wichita. “The app will ask if you are walking or driving and it will estimate the amount of time needed for your trip and allow you to adjust it if you are delayed for any reason,” said Fulmer. “We realize not everyone will utilize these features. However, we felt it was important to have these options available for anyone who did want to take advantage of these extra security features.”
Other campus safety features new to campus and currently in processing are parking passes, self-defense classes, the possibility of adding security cameras, Talkaphone services and maintenance, campus housing guest check-in system, and changes in curfew and visitation hours in campus housing.