Although surveillance cameras are not part of campus security at Mars Hill College, administrators are keen to bring them here, and there’s precedence at other schools for their use.
Craig Goforth, dean of student affairs, has sought estimates from camera companies. Goforth recently had an Asheville company provide an estimate, but the price range was not affordable. Yet, he continues his research into a system.
Goforth said that Taylor Fitness Center will get cameras because of a donor.
Several colleges and universities in the region have surveillance camera systems. Of six nearby colleges and university that were contacted by The Hilltop, four had systems, one was in the process of installing one, and the sixth, Wingate University, had none. A seventh school noted on its website that it used cameras.
Goforth wants cameras to review tape when an incident occurs. He said the cameras would not be used to invade privacy.
“No invasion of privacy is extended nor are there negatives,” he said in an email on the subject. He said the cameras would provide deterrence and would provide “the ability to ID vandals.”
After the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, MHC school officials held a forum to discuss what the school could do to improve safety for students. President Dan Lunsford acknowledged the need to have cameras at the 2007 forum.
Many, such as Facilities Director Bill Lovins, support the need to have cameras. Lovins said at the forum they would be helpful to monitor who enters and leaves the dorms.
“Any system we would install would have to be web based as opposed to individual systems across the campus,” Lovins said in an email last semester. “This would require upgrades in our IT department.”
Goforth said in an email that cameras will help with judicial cases and help to aid in investigations on campus.
Newberry College is in the process of having cameras being installed on their campus.The director of residence life of Newberry, Josh Barnes, said that the cameras on his campus are to be “used as deterrent, evidence for judicial cases, college policy enforcement, and of course to provide a better sense of safety and security without our communities.”
MHC director of residence life, Mindy Bliss, also said “having cameras would give us opportunities to better identify individuals that may be damaging or causing problems on our campus.” She would like to see the cameras at the entrances and exits of the dorms.
Carson-Newman College has had cameras for a year. The director of residence life and conferences services of Carson-Newman, T.J. Brecciaroli, said that the cameras cover the entrances and exits to the residence halls. Brecciaroli said that “no one actively views our cameras,” which are controlled by the school’s security department.
Goforth and Bliss would like to see the cameras in areas where students live and socialize. Bliss said in an email that it would be “beneficial for cameras to placed on all entrance doors of the residence halls, elevators, in the fitness center, the computer labs and the library.”
These areas on campus are used by both students and faculty. Goforth would also like to place cameras at residence halls and the fitness center.
The director of residence life of Lenior-Rhyne University, Emma Sellers, said the school’s cameras “are not monitored 24/7, however, our director of security monitors . . . in the event of a incident on campus.” Goforth would like the system at Mars Hill to be run similarly.
Many schools that have student populations the size of Mars Hill have had their camera systems for numerous years, such as Limestone College, which has had a system running for eight years.
“I have trouble now remembering how we got along without them,” Chief Richard Simmons said.
Appalachian State University, which has a year-round population of 15,000 students, has had cameras for five years. Chef Doerr Gunther said that “the cameras are not monitored 24-7 because of staffing and budget constraints."
“They are helpful in identifying possible suspects after something has happened,” he said via email.
Wingate University was the only school contacted that does not use cameras on its campus.
Early in the semester, Denise Griffin, MHC director of safety and security, sent an email to faculty, staff and students reminding them that the school is essentially a self-policing institution. She urged students to “promptly and accurately report all incidents.”
“We are committed to the concept of a community policing philosophy, and as such we direct our efforts toward preventing crime and providing assistance, as much as we do toward enforcing the law,” she stated.
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