The Eastern Michigan University Department of Public Safety
will have a new home next summer. And, it's one that should
be more visible to campus.
During its June 17 meeting, the Board of Regents approved
$3.9 million for the renovation of 12,000 square feet of
the existing Hoyt Conference Center to create new office
space for DPS. The project will be funded through University
funds. DPS is expected to move to the new facility in summer
2009.
 |
HOME SURVEILLANCE: (above, from left)
Bob
Heighes, assistant director of public safety,
and Greg
O'Dell, EMU's executive director of public
safety, pose
in front of the Hoyt Conference Center.
The Board of
Regents recently approved $3.9 million
for the
renovation of 12,000 square feet in the
facility to
create new office space for the Department
of Public
Safety. DPS is expected to move into
the facility in
summer 2009. |
"This is not, in any way, a luxury facility," stressed
Greg O'Dell, EMU's executive director of public safety. "It's
a basic operation. But, it's what we need at this time."
The Hoyt Conference Center, located on the northwestern
edge of campus, will allow roughly 33 police officers and
DPS administration, including dispatchers; five parking
and safety employees; and two health and safety officials
to be housed under one roof and create a sense of collaboration
and synergy, O'Dell said.
Currently, officers and dispatch are crammed into the
5,720-square-foot parking structure, built in 1970, while
DPS administrators are housed in various Bowen Field House
offices. This has created a situation where administration
and the front line are separated by "several hundred yards," O'Dell
said.
In addition, the department's growing technology needs
will be addressed with more space in Hoyt. The DPS is currently
connected with the state of Michigan's Law Enforcement
Information Network (LEIN) and the Courts and Law Enforcement
Management Information System (CLEMIS), its operating system
based in Oakland County. But, it's not an ideal situation
in the parking structure.
"Now, we literally have so many wires hanging (from the
ceiling) in the dispatch area. We'll now be able to correctly
house our technology," said O'Dell, mentioning DPS currently
monitors 225 active security cameras and 52 emergency assistance
stations on campus.
Additional space in Hoyt also will allow DPS to have interview
rooms for people to report crimes on campus. Before, much
of that information was taken down out in the open when
a little privacy would have made the situation more comfortable,
O'Dell said.
Because the conference center is located near Hill, Hoyt
and Pittman halls, and within relatively easy walking distance
from the Student Center, it should be more visible and
accessible to students on campus, O'Dell said.
"Students should know where we're at. We want to be very
visible," O'Dell said.
The Hoyt Conference Center currently houses a small grocery
and used to host several events on campus before many were
moved to the Student Center. The grocery, which is used
by students living nearby in the Towers, will remain.
"We're very excited about this one," John Lumm,
EMU's interim chief financial officer, business and finance,
said during the Board of Regents meeting. "This has
been identified as a priority for the university for a
while."
In making the decision to locate DPS in the Hoyt Conference
Center, Lumm said campus location, cost and the ability
to accommodate the needs of DPS were considered.
After receiving Board approval, Lumm said a use-and-finance
statement would be sent to the state's Joint Capital Outlay
Subcommittee (JCOS) for its approval of the project. A
use-and-finance statement is required by the state on all
projects exceeding $1 million.
"It makes sense to do it and it's important to utilize
some of the existing space we had," said Regent Fran Parker.
"We're very excited. It's obviously long overdue," O'Dell
said. ""We've been in a parking garage for 38 years."
In other action:
- The board approved a new bachelor of arts/science in
sports management. The program will educate and prepare
students for employment in the growing field of sports
management. The program, which will be offered through
the School of Health Promotion and Human Performance,
is designed to meet standards of the North American Society
for Sport Management, the accrediting body for such programs.
- The board also approved a new residence classification
for EMU's tuition policy. The classification grants
in-state tuition to active duty members of the United States
Armed Forces, their spouses and dependents, where the member
of the armed forces is a Michigan resident or is stationed
in Michigan.
- The regents also approved continuation budgets of $21
million for the general fund and $3.3 million for the auxiliary
activities fund. This approval authorizes expenditures
for the month of July, pending the approval by the Board
of the 2008-09 operating budgets at the special board meeting
July 30. The amounts represent carryover of the 2007-08
budgets for one month. The university's fiscal year ends
June 30.
" This is consistent with what we did last year," Lumm
said. — Pamela Young contributed to this
report.
