An implementation analysis of threat assessment policies in public universities and community colleges in central Texas : a post Virginia Tech incident assessment

Access restricted to the OSU CommunityIt is clear that the tragic events at Virginia Tech and other institutions of higher education (IHEs) have brought threat assessment to the forefront of higher education literature and increased public concern for campus safety. IHEs have a profound duty to learn from the Virginia Tech tragedy and to recognize their responsibility in providing a safe environment for their students, faculty, and staff. While one cannot maintain a free and open society and eliminate the possibility that acts of random violence may occur, IHE officials and policymakers must determine how to minimize the risk that these situations may occur in the future. This dissertation explores the extent to which public universities and community colleges in Central Texas have incorporated critical, post-Virginia Tech recommendations into their campus safety policies. The researcher analyzed the websites of thirty-two selected IHEs in Central Texas to collect data regarding the integration of those critical recommendations into their campus safety policies and programs. This dissertation also explores how institutions succeed or fail in translating these policies into meaningful campus safety programs and services. The researcher conducted two case studies included in the policy analysis sample, The University of Texas at Dallas and Collin College. The data was collected and analyzed based on open-ended interview data to find common themes that related to managing, preventing, and responding to incidents of random mass violence. Although the professional literature on incidents of college and university violence is increasing, little of the existing research addresses the differences between campus safety policy approaches directed to "Virginia Tech-type" incidents and those approaches directed at violence such as assault, rape, or homicide. The dissertation aims to help fill this void by focusing on certain recommendations of post Virginia Tech reports that specifically address these types of incidents precisely because they present universities with a different set problems than other campus crime