Last week's shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has led AU and campuses around the nation to review their current emergency evacuation procedures.
"It's unfortunate, but it takes an incident such as this for people to hyperfocus on what needs to change," said David Taylor, AU presidential chief of staff.
University leadership will meet today to review current procedures and discuss changes that need to be made, Taylor said.
"Reviewing policies is a good idea, but I think the school should practice them as well," said Felecita Jaiah, a junior in the Kogod School of Business. "They need to be tested."
The process for reviewing emergency response procedures, which was reviewed in March, includes simulation exercises, facilitated by an outside company, that test the efficiency of current procedures. The participation of an external party is important in assessing current policy, Taylor said.
The current emergency management procedures are posted on the Office of Risk Management's Web site. Taylor said it is important for students to be aware of procedures in place and to know that housing and dining and resident assistants are fully aware of appropriate procedures in case of emergency.
"I think it's good to review emergency procedures, but I feel safe on campus ... because I have to," said a freshman in the Kogod School of Business, who preferred to remain anonymous. "I can't live in fear of the place I live."
The student said he tried to detach himself from the situation at Virginia Tech.
"The tragedy at Virginia Tech was surreal," he said. "I don't want to sound cold, because I was very saddened by what happened, but I can't let this distract me from what I have to do."
Jaiah said she doesn't necessarily feel safe on campus and is concerned that AU would not be able to handle an emergency similar to the Virginia Tech shootings.
To understand how the university should best respond to an emergency, it is important to consider recent technological developments, Taylor said.
According to Jeff Hanley, Residence Hall Association president and a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, there has been a proposal for AU to adopt a new text messaging alert system. The system would ensure that in an emergency, any student within the free network would be sent a text message, alerting them to the emergency and providing procedural instructions, Hanley said.
"Our main goal is to alert as many students as quickly as possible about any hazard we may be facing - from a gunmen to an evacuation of the university because of an incident in D.C.," he said.
Jaiah said a text message system would be better than e-mailing students.
"Not everyone checks their e-mail or turns on the news or radio, but everyone has a cell phone," said Jaiah.
Taylor said AU and other colleges are examining how they can best utilize their resources.
"All of us are taking inventory on aspects that we can learn from this tragedy," Taylor said.
AU's emergency response procedures are available at www.american.edu/finance/rmo.
