Campus Safety
Safety is a priority for the Utah Board of Higher Education (Board) and the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) institutions and campuses. Protecting students, faculty and staff requires ongoing attention to prevention, preparedness and emergency response while preserving campuses as vibrant, open marketplaces of ideas.
In October 2025, shortly after the events at Utah Valley University, the Board directed the Utah Commissioner of Higher Education’s Office to establish a task force to strengthen campus safety through an ongoing, proactive approach.
The task force brought together representatives from Utah’s public colleges and universities, and local, state, and private sector partners with relevant expertise.
“Students, faculty, and staff should be able to focus on learning, teaching, and exchanging ideas without having to worry about safety. This report gives our institutions a shared approach to build on the work already happening on our campuses, strengthen collaboration and better prepare for and respond to emergencies.”
– Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Geoff Landward
The Campus Safety Task Force Report advances a unified, systemwide approach to safety, building on existing efforts through shared services, regional collaboration and consistent policies and practices across USHE. The key actions are categorized by the following areas:
- Behavioral Threat Intervention and Management
- Safety of Events, Facilities and Operations
- Responding in Emergencies – Individuals in the Campus Community
- Responding in Emergencies – Professionals
- Post-Emergency Communications, Debriefing and Continuous Improvement
The report outlines concrete steps to strengthen campus safety. More than 25 recommendations address policies, practices, and resources, with specific actions to guide implementation. Together, they provide a shared plan to strengthen safety before, during, and after emergencies.
Campus Safety Task Force Recommendations
Behavioral Threat Intervention and Management
- Foster a culture of vigilance across USHE institutions.
- Adopt a "funnel" approach for reporting and responding to threatening behavior.
- Establish shared service partnerships between USHE degree-granting institutions and technical colleges to support scalable behavioral threat intervention.
Safety of Events, Facilities and Operations
- Develop consistent standards and protocols for requesting and planning campus events.
- Standardize protocols for assessing and managing risk related to campus events and daily campus operations and activities.
Responding in Emergencies – Individuals in the Campus Community
- Promote a more consistent and effective emergency response for students, faculty, staff, and visitors through common nomenclature and training.
Responding in Emergencies – Professionals
- Achieve more consistent institutional responses to emergencies by leveraging a System-based approach.
- Enhance coordination between USHE institutions and with partners external to higher education (local, state, federal, and private entities).
Post-Emergency Communications, Debriefing, and Continuous Improvement
- Adopt consistent, formalized methods for debriefing emergencies and a System-focused approach to continuous improvement related to campus safety.