ABSTRACT
You must consider your students’ safety while off campus. As chair, I would get calls from parents when one of our instructors sent a class into a neighborhood the parents had deemed unsafe. Some campuses consider this a pressing enough issue that a standard safety form exists with pertinent information for students. These usually address safety issues while traveling from campus to the site, awareness of the surroundings while at the site, and what the student should do if unsafe, uncomfortable or threatening situations arise. We cannot be everywhere. Students need to develop their street sense and confidence in their ability to handle new situations. Safety conversations bring these teachable moments into focus. Nevertheless, incidents will happen and hopefully no one will be hurt. Knowing that, you need to provide students with the best information on whom to communicate with in case of an emergency. Cell phones have made this a bit easier, but the system you set up should not assume that a cell phone will always be available or working. If this seems like a big task, ask colleagues in departments that do this regularly about the guidance they give students. If you are lucky, a campus task force has already addressed these issues.
