Advancing Campus Safety: The Strategic Role of Risk Assessments

College students are genuinely concerned about their safety on campus. According to the Clery Center, 82% of college students report personal safety concerns, yet only 70% have received adequate information about campus safety resources. The disconnect between awareness of risk and confidence in institutional response reveals why visibility (i.e. deterrence) is insufficient. Comprehensive risk assessments allow educational institutions to strategically plan for complex threats like interpersonal violence, theft, unauthorized access, and mental health crises in ways that a deterrence-heavy approach does not.

The Trust vs. Action Problem in Campus Security

According to the research cited above, while 74% percent of students trust their institutions, 57% say their schools should be doing more. This is a gap that matters.

Institutions that regularly communicate their risk assessment findings and safety processes build measurable trust. When students – and parents – understand the reasoning behind security decisions, safety becomes embedded in institutional identity rather than treated as separate from campus culture.

Anticipating Threats to Campuses Through Strategic Risk Assessments

Following major incidents, higher education institutions now recognize that security must be driven by strategy and sound information – the foundational pathway to campus security strategy is a risk assessment.

Comprehensive risk assessments do three things:

1. Surface early indicators. Threat assessment teams trained in structured professional judgment – the current evidence-based standard – are designed to identify warning behaviors and risk factors before they escalate. Most institutions use multidisciplinary teams that understand both the psychological processes behind threat-based violence and the specific warning signs that warrant intervention.

2. Unify fragmented data. According to federal Campus Security Guidelines, local and campus law enforcement must collaborate to address potential threats on and off campus, sharing records and information to fully evaluate risk. Institutions that create shared reporting mechanisms, including (a) pulling insights from campus police, while working with (b) student affairs, (c) counseling centers, and (d) facilities, develop a unified operational picture rather than siloed information streams.

3. Illuminate direct and latent threats + hazards. The U.S. Department of Education’s Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting requires institutions to catalog threats systematically, from facility vulnerabilities to access control gaps to emergency preparedness weaknesses. Annual assessments ensure higher education institutions continuously map their risk portfolio and don’t defend against outdated threat models.

Practical Assessment Strategies for University Campuses

Effective risk assessments combine multiple approaches grounded in federal guidance. According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, educational institutions must develop systematic processes for identifying potential threats – from behavioral concerns to facility vulnerabilities to high-profile events – and share assessment findings across campus departments and with law enforcement partners.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting requires universities to catalog and address threats across multiple dimensions: emergency response preparedness, access control procedures, visitor management protocols, surveillance coverage, lighting adequacy, and evacuation routes. Rather than a one-time evaluation, effective assessment is cyclical – Institutions systematically review these categories annually, updating protocols as circumstances evolve.

Multidisciplinary assessment teams draw expertise from campus police, student affairs, counseling centers, and facilities management to evaluate risk holistically. This integrated approach surfaces blind spots that single departments might miss and ensures that corrective actions align across campus operations.

What Risk Assessments Actually Do for Universities

The evidence is unambiguous: campuses that implement proactive assessment frameworks see positive measurable changes. Research on campus-based advocacy programs shows substantial reductions in sexual violence, interpersonal violence, stalking, and harassment at six-month follow-up, along with decreased academic disengagement.

Institutions that regularly reassess campus vulnerabilities, adapt strategies to emerging risks, and demonstrate that commitment to their communities, create environments where students, faculty, and staff can focus on learning and research instead of personal safety. 

The challenge isn’t understanding what needs to happen – it is executing sustained, systematic risk assessment that keeps pace with evolving threats. Leadership teams that prioritize this work, whether through internal capacity building or external partnership, build the foundation for campuses where safety is part of the institutional identity.