The President of Constantine College wrote a letter to the Vice-Chancellor Charlie Jeffery and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Ken Badcock asking for a formal review of Campus Safety in November following Welcome Week (formally Freshers Week).
In a not publicly available letter that York Vision was given exclusive access to, Emily Eurus-Jones called for Campus Safety to “examine their practices, training procedures, and historic incidents of Campus Safety failures” across Campus.
Campus Safety is the University of York’s campus-based safety and security team, which aims to provide 24-hour support to anyone who lives or works at the University.
The Campus Safety team can be contacted via the SafeZone app or by phone and students are especially reliant on its services during Welcome Week and Welcome Back Week (formally Refreshers’ Week).
Eurus-Jones wrote that she wanted the University to: “provide a guarantee that either a female officer or Female CDO [will] always be on duty.”
She said: “I’m aware of female centred recruitment drives taking place to address the gender disparity that already exists, but a date must be fixed as to when this will be resolved so female students can feel safe on Campus.”
The College President also demanded the University to make a: “[c]ommitment to Student Volunteer Safety” and “publicly acknowledge the failures of Campus Safety […] and commit to a clear, actionable plan that ensures the safety and well-being of Student Volunteers and the broader student body moving forward.”
Speaking exclusively with York Vision, Eurus-Jones said she felt compelled to write the letter “based upon many different challenging scenarios we faced in [Welcome] Week.”
One of these incidents involved student volunteers feeling that they weren’t given adequate support during an incident that occurred late at night.
A University spokesperson acknowledged that “incidents on campus can be difficult and distressing for everyone involved.”
The University said: “We have listened to feedback and plans have been put in place, including joint training for Campus Safety, College staff and volunteers to improve the awareness of each other’s roles and responsibilities.
“We are also reviewing our Campus Safety staffing levels – especially during peak times when resources can be stretched – and have taken steps to improve our incident management system so that the team is better supported to deal with multiple calls. Additionally, we are actively recruiting more female officers.”
Eurus-Jones’ letter was the second letter sent to the Vice Chancellor by a College Chair or President during the month of November.
The University has recently expanded out-of-hours support for incidents over Welcome Week to prevent dangerous situations from occurring.
There are on-site paramedics available over the course of the week and College staff provide “in-town” support.
The University also provides a Campus Duty Officer for the escalation of student safety incidents throughout the year. This is a member of staff that Campus Safety can use to escalate issues if needed.
But Eurus-Jones maintained: “I have seen the failures in Campus Safety, and that is what has triggered my letter.”
The letter claimed that the root of these issues “lies in the inadequate training and preparation provided for volunteers” and concluded “these failures are completely unacceptable.”
A representative from the University said: “We are always seeking to review, update and improve training for our Campus Safety team to ensure we are best supporting the needs of our community and look forward to further constructive conversations with students, staff and volunteers involved in Welcome Week.”
Since writing the letter, Eurus-Jones has met with the Vice Chancellor and had numerous productive discussions with Interim Deputy Director for Student Life and Wellbeing Martin Crosby about these concerns.
She said: “They [the University] has agreed to look at training and increase support.
“Campus safety is being reviewed and their response has been pretty good; they’ve taken things on the chin more than I thought they would.”