State conference to discuss college safety measures
Two officials will represent MU at the conference.
Published July 20, 2010
Officials from schools and colleges across the state will discuss topics ranging from "sexting" to suicide at a conference in Osage Beach this week and at least two MU officials will represent the school at the conference.
During the fourth annual Missouri Safe Schools and Colleges Conference, experts in the fields of mental health, risk assessment, and law enforcement will come together to share the best methods of execution for campus security.
The Missouri School Boards’ Association produces the conference, sponsored by the Higher Education Subcommittee of the state’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. In a news release, the MSBA said the conference centers on school safety and security with the hopes of providing assistance to leaders in public and nonpublic schools.
Joan Masters, who is the Partners in Prevention coordinator at the MU Wellness Resource Center, has been working with the organization since 2001. Masters is a member of the HSAC and will be giving two presentations at the conference about behavioral health problems and the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs. Masters and MU Police Department Chief Jack Watring will represent MU at the conference.
Masters said while there are no new health or safety programs coming to MU, the university does look to improve already existing programs like the Wellness Resource Center.
"We are always revamping our programs so that they get better each year and to ensure that our students feel comfortable with them," Masters said.
She also said the conference will talk about several different types of threat assessments, as well as provide inquiry into how to improve safety programs.
MSBA executive director Carter Ward issued a statement on the conference's website explaining that much of the 2010 conference will also focus on suicide due to feedback from previous years’ attendees.
"The decision reflects the notion that suicide among youth remains relatively high,” he said in the statement. “The decision also recognizes that there is much yet to be done to understand the causes of suicide and preventive measures that we can take."
Shannon Koenig, a research assistant at the Missouri Department of Higher Education, said the focus of the conference is on how schools can better prevent suicides among college students who face several emotional issues.
“Many [students] are not prepared to deal with them in a healthy manner,” she said. “Experts and hands-on practitioners from around the country will give guidance and share best practices for identifying and preventing conditions that endanger students and others on college campuses.”
Scott Poland will give the conference’s keynote remarks about preventing school violence and suicide. Poland is coordinator of the Office of Suicide and Violence Prevention at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Poland said youth suicide is still a significant health problem at a national level and said it is surprisingly higher with graduate students because they feel more pressure to succeed academically. He also said suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students, and the third leading cause of death in high school students.
"There are many ways to prevent suicide," Poland said. "An important component missing from much of the initial planning and continuing to today is the absence of efforts to get students involved in their own safety."