Safety on campus: Huskies watch out for each other
September 25, 2023
As more than 100,000 University of Washington students and employees prepare for the start of the academic year in Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell, we know our greatest strength is the self-confidence and community bonds people build over the course of the year. Huskies watch out for each other. We do that by asking for help…
Welcoming new UW Emergency Management Director Kelley Biastock
September 14, 2023
UW’s Division of Campus Community Safety, which includes SafeCampus, the University of Washington Police Department and UW Emergency Management, is excited to welcome Kelley Biastock as the new Director of UW Emergency Management. Kelley is responsible for working with the greater University communities to plan and prepare for crises, disasters and major emergency incidents, particularly…
Working together to make UW safer - Year 1
June 16, 2023
With commencement season comes the end of the first academic year of the UW’s Division of Campus Community Safety. This means it’s time to reflect on what we learned this past year and where the lessons point us for the summer and coming year. As a reminder, the Division of Campus Community Safety was established…
Cheap, potent and deadly - the challenges of the fentanyl epidemic
May 9, 2023
Two people every day. In King County, fentanyl-involved overdoses kill two people in our community every day. Nationwide, fentanyl is involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, suicide and other accidents. Five people died on the University of Washington campus in Seattle during the…
Partnering to improve safety north of 45th Street
April 26, 2023
On a rainy Thursday night, more than 50 students and City of Seattle department leaders went for a walk together in the neighborhood north of the Seattle campus to talk about safety issues. The walk, spearheaded by leaders of the Panhellenic and Inter-Fraternity Councils, included presidents of most University of Washington fraternities and sororities, other…
Additional overnight security coming to Seattle campus
March 27, 2023
In the past few months, students, faculty and staff have reported concerns about personal safety on the Seattle campus at night. These issues center heavily on the Central Plaza Garage (CPG), but also include other parking areas and buildings. Unfortunately, like in other parts of Seattle, these reports describe encountering people displaying disruptive — sometimes…
Steve Charvat, UW’s first emergency management director, stepping down
January 10, 2023
Steve Charvat’s arrival at the University of Washington as Director of Emergency Management in 2003 brought with it many firsts. Coming to the UW after serving as deputy emergency director in Washington, D.C. — on the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and anthrax scares — Charvat was asked to build an emergency management program…
Safety tips for the new quarter
January 5, 2023
Welcome back to winter quarter, Huskies. Welcome back to classrooms and labs, lectures, bus and train commutes, locking up your bike, walking across campuses in the dark, watching for snow and ice, and thinking about spring. We have a few Top of the Quarter Tips for you. Some of these may seem basic, but sometimes…
Campus & Community Safety conversation with UW Parent & Family Programs
November 3, 2022
On Nov. 1, University of Washington Parent & Family Programs hosted a virtual discussion for UW families on campus and community safety, and you can view a recording of that conversation in this post.
Developing smoke and heat guidance for UW locations
October 27, 2022
It’s wet and gray the way later October is supposed to be, but just a few days ago most of Western Washington was struggling with what at certain moments topped the “World’s Worst Air Quality” lists. Unfortunately, wildfire smoke has become a standard late summer, early fall phenomenon for all three campuses. In addition, we’ve…
Additional actions the UW and our partners are taking to improve U District safety
October 7, 2022
As we close out the first full week of the quarter and mark just less than a week since the shootings in the University District, I want to provide a brief update on actions since last Sunday morning.
Update on the UW’s response to violence in the U District
October 4, 2022
Last weekend’s violence in the University District has raised important and urgent questions from students, their parents, faculty and staff about safety in the neighborhood. While we have been focused on providing support to the students who were directly involved in last weekend's incidents, we have also been in frequent communication with City Hall, Seattle…
Advancing safety at UW, in the community and beyond
September 27, 2022
Sept. 27, 2022 UW News sat down with Vice President for Campus & Community Safety Sally Clark to talk about how campus leaders are prioritizing the effort to reimagine safety across the university. Read the interview to learn more.
Campus Community Safety Report to the Community
August 1, 2022
August 1, 2022 After six months of conversations, research and feedback gathering, Campus Community Safety Project members have compiled recommendations and next steps to charter a new Division of Campus Community Safety. This division will be the new home for first-line safety units, including UW Emergency Management, SafeCampus and UW Police (Seattle campus) beginning September…
May 2022 update
May 31, 2022
This month project leadership continued to refine the proposed organizational chart for the new Division of Campus Community Safety. Much of the head-scratching had to do with how the new division’s administrative functions should look in light of the UW’s Finance Transformation project. In practical terms, UWFT means some finance-related jobs at the UW will…
April 2022 update
April 29, 2022
Though largely unseen by the greater campus community, the UW’s three campuses and UW Medicine undertake continuous planning and training for how to react, operate and recover if disaster — natural, structural or human-prompted — strikes. Much of this work is defined by federal and state policies and reflected in the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.…
March 2022 update
March 31, 2022
Throughout March, we have continued sketching models for how to move units from their existing “homes” in the University’s organizational structure to the future Division of Campus Community Safety. We also launched the search for a new UW Police Department leader. When not drafting, erasing and re-drawing org chart boxes or tracking down job codes,…
February 2022 update
February 28, 2022
After the initial two months of work reimagining and reorganizing, a couple of questions come up regarding the latter: “Why move SafeCampus into the new Division of Campus Community Safety? How will that improve outcomes?” Better outcomes for students, staff and faculty will need to be proven year after year (we’ll talk metrics in future…
January 2022 update
January 31, 2022
After a formal launch by President Cauce in December, the University of Washington’s rethinking of expectations and approaches to safety services for people and places is underway. This work is the result of years of listening sessions and dialogue about both the decentralized way the University approaches safety-related programs and policing, and it takes place…