Oklahoma City University deals with campus safety concerns

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Aug 31, 2007 by Jeff Packham

An international student sought by federal officials "as a person of interest" enrolls at an institution of higher learning in Oklahoma and is actually admitted to the school.

That scenario was a reality that was barely averted last week when Oklahoma City University officials discovered that a recent admission was on a Federal Bureau of Investigation terrorism watch list.

Tom McDaniel, president of Oklahoma City University, told members of the Governor's Campus Life and Safety and Security Task Force on Thursday that this incident had taken place earlier this month in the heart of the state's capital. McDaniel presented the scenario to justify the need for improved communications between the institutions of higher learning in Oklahoma.

OCU Vice President of Student Affairs Rick Hall said the information that would have provided a red flag for school officials was learned when looking at the Student Exchange Visitor Information System . He said some schools have a system built in to track conduct issues involving transfer students, but said he was unaware of what the public universities do to ensure this information is provided to the receiving schools.

This and other issues were discussed during the second meeting of the task force in an effort to ensure situations such as the Virginia Tech shootings don't take place on an Oklahoma campus. The task force has spent the last several weeks preparing reports on notification, response, counseling, laws and policies, and funding.

A self-assessment is being requested of all of the higher education institutions as well as the Career and Technology Education centers throughout the state in an effort to gain a better understanding of what the policies are on each campus.

The final report is expected to be completed by December.