In the aftermath of the recent shutdown and evacuation at the Downtown campus, the college is looking to further improve its communication system and make sure students and staff members know the right procedures to follow in the case of an active shooter situation.
At Madison College’s annual Student Leader Retreat on Sept. 14, just days before the incident, Public Safety officers and Student Life staff showed students a video made by UW-Madison Police that described what to do in the case of an active shooter. That same video was shown at Covocation prior to the start of the semester to prepare faculty.
Vice President of Student Development Keith Cornille said these steps suggested in the video were reportedly followed by students and staff at the Downtown campus.
Bill Garrett was in class at Downtown while the lockdown was initiated. He was also at the leadership retreat on Sept. 14 and saw the active shooter video. He used the steps in the video including barricading the door, shutting off the lights and telling everyone in his class to remain quiet.
“The more students we have aware of proper procedures to follow in a shooter event the more potential lives we can save,” Garrett said.
He said he thinks it would be a good idea to get the word out about the video and perhaps make it an initiative to present the video to more Madison College students.
“The more students we have educated, the better chance they’ll have,” Garrett said.
Cornille said it is important for faculty, staff and students who have seen the video to show others the video to know what to do in the event of an active shooter situation.
“Fortunately, there was no shooter, but it does give us an opportunity to learn from the situation and we will do that,” Cornille said.
Cornille added steps are being taken by the administration to make the video shown to faculty, staff and student leaders available on the Madison College website so all students can see it.
WolfPack Alerts were sent out via text message and through phones at the campuses when the lockdown was initiated and when the all clear was given. However, Cornille said there were calls coming in from people inquiring about the situation. He said in an event such as this, the college relies on other sources for that information. He said the college will remain cautious so accurate information goes out because the college will not put out information just for the sake of getting out quickly.
“It does us no good to say there was a shooter in the building if we don’t know there is a shooter in the building. It does no good to push out to people, ‘It’s all clear,’ if it’s not truly all clear,” he said. “We want to make sure we have the correct information before we share it. Sometimes, that’s frustrating for people and it makes it seem like we don’t know what’s going on. No, we know what’s going on, but we want to make sure we give you the correct information and not exacerbate a situation.”
Even with that, Cornille said the system is not perfect. There were updates given through Facebook as well as WolfPack Alerts through texting. However, nothing through other social media sites such as Twitter. There were no emails sent out either unless opted for with WolfPack Alerts, which is something Madison College officials have in mind and have talked to UW-Madison to see how they make email alerts feasible.
“I think what the university did with emails was good. We’ll probably start doing something like that. People in this day and age – they’re following the situation. I know my daughter was. So yes, we know that’s one way we can improve,” Cornille said. “I’m not sure WolfPack Alerts is the best way, but we could put something on there that said, ‘follow on web’ or ‘follow on such and such space,’ that might be the way to do it.”
Another downfall of the WolfPack Alerts is the 160-character limit. Public Safety administrative director Jim Bottoni said he received calls about confusion over the content in the WolfPack Alerts because of abbreviations used to save space. Some were confused by the abbreviation “DTEC” for Downtown Education Center.
“Some students, particularly incoming freshmen didn’t know what ‘DTEC’ is,” Bottoni said.
Bottoni said he is working with others in Public Safety to improve how information like this is disseminated. That includes giving more updates as time allows, pending when Public Safety receives word and linking WolfPack Alerts to Twitter.
“It’s about what we did right and how we can make things even better,” Bottoni said.
For students who have been affected by the incident are encouraged to contact the college’s counseling center at Truax to schedule an appointment at 608-246-6076. Also, Cornille said students are welcome to talk with him as well to offer suggestions or just to talk about the situation. He can be reached at [email protected].