DOJ Funds National Center for Campus Public Safety

The United States Department of Justice has awarded a $2.3 million grant to a company in Burlington affiliated with the University of Vermont to create a National Center for Campus Public Safety. The goal of the Center will be to serve as a "one-stop shop" for campus public safety, acting as a think tank and training facility for policy development, model practices, operations, and research.

According to a bid solicitation issued in May 2013, the Center will work with Justice to support colleges and universities as a resource for policy development, model practices, operations, and research on how to enhance campus safety.

The Center is expected to deliver training and technical assistance to campus security teams, student affairs professionals, and others and coordinate resources relevant to the safety of students and teachers.

"There is no one location for the myriad campus public safety resources and initiatives being undertaken nationwide or for the fulfillment of critical information needs," the solicitation stated. "With the many challenges currently facing campus safety professionals, the complexity of the environment has never been greater. The National Center is needed to assist campus public safety leaders in navigating this environment."

Development of the center was spurred by the 2007 shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech University, as well as other incidents that have happened on college and university campuses since then.

The grant is expected to cover two years of operations. Based on performance, supplemental funding may be added to the original grant.

The center will be run by Margolis Healy, a campus security consultancy set up by a former U Vermont police chief, Gary Margolis, and a former director of public safety at Princeton U, Steven Healy. Customers of Margolis Healy have included dozens of schools around the country, including Tulane University, Babson College, and the University of Idaho.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • abstract illustration of a glowing AI-themed bar graph on a dark digital background with circuit patterns

    Stanford 2025 AI Index Reveals Surge in Adoption, Investment, and Global Impact as Trust and Regulation Lag Behind

    Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) has released its AI Index Report 2025, measuring AI's diverse impacts over the past year.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Launches Claude for Education

    Anthropic has announced a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

  • lightbulb

    Call for Speakers Now Open for Tech Tactics in Education: Overcoming Roadblocks to Innovation

    The annual virtual conference from the producers of Campus Technology and THE Journal will return on September 25, 2025, with a focus on emerging trends in cybersecurity, data privacy, AI implementation, IT leadership, building resilience, and more.

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.