Personal Safety Committee

In April 1984, Chancellor Cliffton Wharton, responding to expressed concerns about personal safety on SUNY campuses, called for each state-operated campus in the SUNY system to form a broad-based and continuing advisory group to review issues of personal safety. In June of 1984, the SUNY Board of Trustees adopted a resolution supporting the Chancellor's request. The University at Buffalo already had in place the "President's Task Force on Women's Safety" which then President, Steven B. Sample, designated as UB's official "Personal Safety Committee".

In 1990, the requirements for the composition of the Committee were formalized with regard to the number of representatives (at least 12), their gender (evenly divided between men and women), and their university affiliation (equal numbers of faculty, students, and staff).

The purpose of the Personal Safety Committee, as stipulated by the 1991 mandate from the Vice President for Student Affairs, is "to advise the Vice President for Student Affairs on issues related to the personal safety and security of all members of the University community and visitors to our campus." Formerly, the Committee's main concern was women's safety, which continues to be reflected in its second major task: to provide the Vice President for Student Affairs with reports, suggestions, and recommendations for the "improvement of personal security conditions in all areas of campus response protocols for sexual assault situations."

• Recommend further actions and programs that will raise the level of safety awareness among all members of the University community.
• Identify ways to utilize academic programs for the enhancement of personal safety.
• Review existing programs and suggest improvements in safety education, particularly for students taking evening courses, using campus services such as libraries and computing sites during off hours, and living in residence halls.
• Review and identify potential sources of funding for future and current programs related to personal safety on campus.
• Review and suggest improvements to campus preventative and judicial policies on sexual assault.
• Conduct regular lighting tours of both campuses to maintain a safe environment for those on campus during evening hours.
• Conduct regular meetings regarding the status of blue light phones on campus.
• Monitor availability of counseling services for victims.
• Continue on-going assessment of the quality of personal safety policies, practices, procedures, and programs by reviewing critical incidents.
• Periodically conduct formal and informal survey of student and staff opinion.
• Analyze crime statistics reported by University Police.

The Violence Prevention Committee, a subcommittee of the Personal Safety Committee, is a team of stakeholders from the greater University community committed to preventing violence on campus and helping individuals affected by acts of violence. The goal of the Violence Prevention Committee is to create a campus culture that promotes healthy gender-equitable relationships and eliminates violence by establishing interdisciplinary collaboration across UB and with the surrounding communities.