Safety Services and Residence Life staff work hand and hand to make the campus as safe as possible for the students of Ashland University.

Safety Services work to maintain order, enforce policies and keep the campus environment safe and secure for students and staff, according Dave McLaughlin, director of Safety Services..

“We work real closely with resident assistants,” McLaughlinsaid. “For instance, we share information a lot, especially when we get tips and need to look into something that happens on the floor.”

Though Safety Services do not have police powers and cannot arrest students, they do have the power to write and report campus incidents and write on-campus parking tickets. They also work closely with Ashland Police Department if escalated situations were to occur, McLaughlin said.

According to McLaughlin, there are seven full-time officers, as well as student officers who work for Safety Services. The dispatching of officers is primarily done by the student officers, as well as the campus patrols, apart from the night shifts. The student employees are provided with on the job training, including CPR, First Aid, and other safety measures, such as assisting students during severe weather.

Resident assistants (RAs) often call safety services for various reasons: alarms, emergencies and suspicious behavior. Safety officers are often used for backup in escalated situations like marijuana or alcohol incidents.

Eric Thorson, the current director of residence life, declined to speak on the matter; however some resident assistants have shared their input.

“We do these little scenario training in the fall,” said senior Gavyn Dashner, upperclassman resident assistant, “They are little scenarios where you act out a situation and new people would try to play their way through that. And I’m sure that’s a valuable learning experience.”

Since RAs are usually the first line of defense, they rarely have to call Safety Services or escalate to the Ashland Police Department (APD) if a situation were to arise.

Junior Bryce Shafer, upperclassman resident assistant, “For me personally, it hasn’t been that often. I’ve had to call safety maybe three times in my entire tenure as an RA, but we very rarely get APD involved.”

Both RAs and Safety Services rely heavily on student presence whether it be for reporting incidents or being a supportive figure for the student body.

“It is my role,” said Jasmine Chappell, residence life coordinator of Jacobs, Kilhefner and Clark hall. “My entire role functions to serve, guide, mentor and develop students and create safe learning communities. Student presence is necessary and valuable for our community.”