ETSU’s residence halls have many different protocols in place to ensure any concerns on campus are addressed. Students also have resources available from the Department of Housing and Residence Life and Public Safety to avoid dangerous or uncomfortable situations.
“I am proud of the work that this university does to keep our students safe,” said Adrianna Guram, associate director of Housing and Residence Life. “Our [resident advisors] do so much to make a really strong community on campus, and that is really what the core of their job is.”
Resident advisors and directors are provided with trainings related to active shooters, bloodborne pathogens, suicide prevention, Title IX, Title VI and QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer). They also do at least two fire drills per semester and a “Behind Closed Doors” (BCD) training, where resident directors or area coordinators give an example of an emergency situation and show how to handle it.
Resident advisors and directors are oftentimes the first line of communication for campus housing residents, placing them in a unique position during emergencies.
“When [resident advisors] are on duty, we do community walks where we walk our buildings about five or six times a night to ensure the security and safety of the building,” said Rieli Cox, a resident advisor for Centennial and Davis halls.
There are many other safety measures in place for admittance into residence halls, such as residents’ ID cards and hard keys that are required to enter all buildings. The doors are always locked, except for special occasions such as move-in and move-out days, and there are cameras located inside and outside each residence hall.
Emergency phones are located near the entrance of each building, and all facilities are regularly checked by the facilities staff and Environmental Health and Safety.
There are people on-call and available 24 hours a day from the Department of Housing and Residence Life, whether they are resident advisors, resident directors, area coordinators or other residential staff, according to the ETSU Housing and Residence Life website.
The ETSU 2022 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report states that the Department of Housing and Residence Life also contracts with Axis Security to provide two-night patrol staff for housing areas each night from 12-4 a.m. throughout the academic year. At Buccaneer Ridge Apartments, a full-time, university employed security guard works with an Axis security guard to monitor the area nightly from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. These times are subject to change based on concern or levels of occupancy.
“The biggest piece of safety we have for our students is each other, so we can have all of the safety protocols in place, but we also want to make sure that residents are paying attention to their surroundings and reporting anything to Public Safety,” said Guram.
Students are encouraged to download the ETSU Safe mobile app to be alerted on emergencies. This mobile application is available on any smartphone and provides resources such as Safe Voyage, which allows students to receive an escort from one location to another.
Additional security is also available when needed if contacted by a director or coordinator.
For more information on the Department of Housing and Residence Life, visit their website at etsu.edu/students/housing.
