Creating a Safety and Security Culture on Campus

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Creating a Safety and Security Culture on Campus

• Dr. Igor Khripunov
• Center for International Trade and Security
• School of Public and International Affairs
• at
• the Academic-Professional Security Seminar
• Responding to Emergency on Campus UGA and You
• September 11, 2008
• Athens, GA

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Terminology Soup
resilience
climate
culture
safety
awareness
compliance
security
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Safety and Security

• Safety is the condition in which unintentional
  and non-malicious risks are managed to acceptable
  levels.
• Security is the condition in which intentional
  and malicious risks are managed to acceptable
  levels.

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Three Categories of on Campus Risks
Security
Safety
Safety
Security
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Role of Safety and Security
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What is Safety and Security Culture?

• It can be defined as the product of individual
  and group values, attitudes, perceptions,
  competencies and patterns of behavior that
  determine commitment to and compliance with
  safety and security requirements.
• It enables a person to respond to known and
  unknown safety and security challenges out of
  carefully nurtured and proactive habit rather
  than improvised effort.
• It represents two subsets of overall
  organizational culture.

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Safety and Security

• It is critically important that safety and
  security cultures must coexist on the campus as
  two synergized operational concepts and reinforce
  each other because they share the common
  objective of limiting risks.
• Safety and security professionals may reside in
  the same or different organizational units, but
  in each case most of these professionals are
  part of both cultures in what can be
  characterized as an arranged marriage.

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Back to the Terminology Soup

• Awareness means vigilance in observing or
  alertness in drawing inference from what one
  learns or experiences. It implies an ability to
  be conscious of, feel, or perceive.
• Climate generally refers to the attitude the
  people in the organization have towards safety
  and security rather than their readiness and
  willingness to act.
• Culture can be viewed as the background influence
  on the organization, while climate is in the
  foreground. As a result, the safety and security
  climate changes more quickly and readily than
  culture in the aftermath of a significant event.

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All-Hazards On Campus Culture
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Why A Culture Change?

• Culture change is an absolute prerequisite for
  improved safety and security because as long as
  the values, orientations, perceptions, and goals
  stay constant even when new procedures, rules,
  and regulations are introduced organizations
  will return quickly to the prior status quo.
• Ignoring the need to change culture, while
  introducing new requirements and standards, often
  produces cynicism, frustration, loss of trust,
  and deterioration in morale among key members of
  the organization.

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Potential Impediments in the Way of Culture
Change on the Campus

• Resistance to standardization
• Defense of academic and intellectual freedoms
• Free and open flow of information associated
  with collaborative and cross-disciplinary
  research, teaching, and learning
• Culture of decentralization
• Rapid turnover of campus population
• Background and professional diversity

Culture Change
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Potential Impediments in the Way of Culture
Change on the Campus
Its a culture of appearances over
accountabilityWhile this culture is by no means
inclusive of all faculty and researchers, it is
supported by a longstanding, influential group of
individuals who oppose reasonable compliance as
intrusion, and whose vocal opposition precludes
open discussion and meaningful change. Harold
Woody Davis Former Associate Vice President
for Research University of Texas
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How to Change Culture

• Get the top leadership onboard
• Acting as the role model the leader can
  demonstrate, in a highly visible manner, interest
  in a wide range or safety- and security-related
  issues.
• The leadership can promote a culture of change by
  prioritizing safety and security issues in public
  addresses and on meeting agendas addressing them
  in all strategic plans giving recognition to
  those who achieve safety and security
  improvements, etc.

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How to Change Culture

• 2. Designate the right person to coordinate the
  campaign and appoint a campus-wide
  interdisciplinary advisory group to provide
  support for this person
• This person must not necessarily be a security
  professional because this mission would require,
  above all, excellent communications skills as
  well as experience in selling and marketing in
  addition to building desirable relationships.
• Another major function of the advisory group
  would be to publicize the initiative across the
  campus.

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How to Change Culture

• 3. Perform risk and vulnerability analyses and
  existing culture evaluations with a view to
  understanding target audiences and customizing
  the message.
• Special attention must be paid to human
  characteristics that manifest themselves in
  desirable attitudes, high morale, ethics,
  teamwork, and organizational reputation while
  deficiencies to be detected will provide clues to
  strategies for improving the culture.
• A set of performance indicators needs to be
  developed to evaluate the culture on the campus
  through a specially designed questionnaire and
  other tools to capture both tangible aspects of
  the working environment (procedures, rules,
  regulations) and intangible aspects (behavior,
  attitudes, prevailing mentality).

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How to Change Culture

• 4. Develop a strategic action plan complete with
  a timetable and short-term benchmarks that
  streamline the process of culture change.
• There is a need to indentify as few as three to
  five (at most) change items that are most in need
  of attention and energy because a wider agenda is
  hardly implementable.
• The program will fall short of its objectives
  unless faculty and staff have a personal stake
  in the change process, unless individuals are
  willing to change their behavior and unless the
  leadership develops safety- and security-friendly
  managerial competencies.

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Enabling Tools, Policies and Actions

• Select the right communication vehicles and
  engage the media.
• Identify influencers in all major divisions and
  units especially among faculty and research
  scientists.
• Encourage reports on safety and security
  irregularities including the establishment of a
  direct line for anonymous callers.
• Use rewards and recognition such as an Annual
  Safety and Security Excellence Award.
• Go beyond the campus in scope and selectively
  apply the program to off-campus activity.
• Involve local community leaders, major business,
  and first responders.
• Include safety and security in as many training
  and orientation courses as possible.

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Is there any Return on Investment (ROI)?

• As long as safety and security culture is clearly
  institutionalized, continuously evaluated and
  publicized, its benefits to the university may
  include
• More grants, contracts, and partnerships due to a
  credibly proven safer and more secure work
  environment.
• More student enrollment and job applications due
  to a safer and more secure learning and living
  environment.
• Better IT security and protection of proprietary
  information.
• Reduced across-the-board theft, diversion, and
  vandalism
• Improved mechanism for student and personnel
  control and accounting under emergency
  conditions.
• Better relationships with local authorities and
  surrounding communities.

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Acknowledgements

• Edgar M. Schein, Organizational Culture and
  Leadership, 3rd ed. (San Francisco, CA
  Lossey-Bass, 2004).
• Kim S. Cameron and Robert E. Quinn, Diagnosing
  and Changing Organizational Culture, Rev. Ed.
  (San Francisco, CA Lossey-Bass, 2006).
• P.J. Ortmeier, Security Management, 2nd ed.
  (Upper Saddle River, NJ Pearson/Prentice Hall,
  2005).

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Thank You Dr. Igor Khripunov 706.542.2985 i.khrip
unov_at_cits.uga.edu