IN RESPONSE TO KIMPEL HALL TRAGEDY, UNIVERSITY PUTS IN PLACE NEW POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO IMPROVE CAMPUS SAFETY

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Anticipating the first anniversary of the Kimpel Hall murder-suicide, the University of Arkansas has spent the past year reviewing the incident and creating new policies, procedures, and approaches to minimize the likelihood of a similar event.

At about noon on Monday, Aug. 28, 2000, former graduate student James Kelly, who had been dismissed from the doctoral program in comparative literature after years of unsatisfactory progress at the University, entered the Kimpel Hall office of his former adviser, John Locke, associate professor of comparative literature. After locking the door, Kelly shot Locke three times and later turned the gun on himself.

University of Arkansas Police arrived on the scene one minute after the 911 call had been received at 12:15 p.m. Their containment of the situation is credited with possibly having prevented a larger tragedy: Kelly had 90 rounds of ammunition with him.

Afterwards, UA Chancellor John A. White formed a Response Review Committee to examine the events surrounding the tragedy and make recommendations to improve campus safety. He also asked for a parallel review, through existing channels, of graduate education policies and procedures that may have been related to the incident.

From the Response Review Committee, chaired by Donald O. Pederson, vice chancellor for finance and administration, have come three new policies and procedures, adopted on July 1:

• Workplace Violence Policy (Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 416.0). This policy states that the University is committed to providing a safe, healthful workplace that is free from violence or threats of violence. The policy outlines prohibited behavior; offers guidelines for immediate response to persons who may find themselves in a threatening situation; offers guidelines to decrease the probability of a person coming to your home or office with a gun; details managerial procedures for reporting violent or threatening behavior; and urges employees uncomfortable with a current or potential situation to call the University of Arkansas Police Department.

• Procedure for Workplace Violence Policy (FPP 416.1). This procedure details how the campus is providing training to deal with workplace violence; advises on how to report violence and action to be taken; describes how the campus administration will respond to such incidents; provides the action plan for such incidents; and describes how reviews of such incidents would be handled.

• Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (FPP 404.1). This procedure addresses processes by which individuals who have experienced or been exposed to a traumatic event can be professionally helped to resolve the concerns or anxieties that such an experience often causes.

These new policies are posted on the web at:
http://www.uark.edu/admin/vcfainfo/policyprocedures/ppindex2.html

The review of graduate education policies procedures, directed by Collis Geren, dean of the Graduate School, and Bob Smith, provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs, has led to a formalization of the process by which all graduate students’ progress is evaluated annually.

Patricia Koski, associate dean of the Graduate School, has chaired a committee that has all but completed its work. The committee’s draft proposal has been given to the Graduate Council—which consists of elected and appointed representatives of the graduate faculty. Among other things, the proposal calls for providing the Office of Financial Aid with information about each graduate student’s progress in his or her degree program.

As the first day of classes on Monday, Aug. 27, approaches, the University of Arkansas Police Department (UAPD) will launch a three-part initiative designed to lessen anxiety and provide increased safety measures, according to Chief Lawrence Slamons.

• Through "Operation Saturation," the police presence will be enhanced with additional officers on bike and foot in the central campus where most of the activity occurs during the first week of the fall semester. Operation Saturation is a continuation of the plan for making UAPD visible at critical times through expanded use of officers and resources.
• UAPD’s focus during the first week of classes will be to incorporate a proactive strategy that encourages contact between citizens and police. This will occur both in the public areas of buildings and outside. Aware of increased anxiety levels, UAPD officers are being advised to address all citizen concerns expeditiously.
• Crime prevention messages addressed to students, faculty and staff during this time will have started enhancing personal safety.

In addition to helping to draft the three workplace violence policies, the Division of Student Affairs has been working to alleviate the after-effects of the tragedy all year long.

According to Brian Hemphill, associate vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) has had continuing contact with individuals affected by the murder-suicide. As was anticipated, the impact on some individuals persisted long after the event. CAPS has a staff member skilled in post-traumatic counseling who was able to enhance the skills of other staff members and the graduate students-in-training.

To augment CAPS’ work, the University contracted with Ozark Guidance for additional counseling services for faculty and staff.

The CAPS staff also underwent extensive debriefing to evaluate the care and attention provided to the campus following the event.

The Division of Students Affairs is currently drafting a crisis response manual for its staff. The plan will include emergency contacts, departmental roles, and philosophy and procedures for responding to the death of a student, attempted suicide, family and student emergencies, mental health crisis, and so forth.

The Office of University Relations also has improved its crisis communications protocol for working with news media and informing the internal university community via website updates and email communications.