Balancing Student Privacy, Campus Security, and Public Safety: Issues for Campus Leaders

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to provide background information on student privacy and campus security, and to review best practices that college and university leaders may consider to help ensure that a system is in place to simultaneously maximize an open community and manage public safety preparedness and responsiveness. It is also intended to complement Dr. Lawrence K. Pettit’s piece, Expecting the Unexpected: Lessons from the Virginia Tech Tragedy, commissioned by AASCU to assess the Virginia Tech Review Panel’s report and provide a “primer” for institutions from the perspective of a retired president.