University administrators and governing bodies are looking for ways to ensure student safety on and around campuses all across Iowa.

The Des Moines Area Community College’s FFA building will be hosting a summit on campus safety and security this October as part of a group effort between three university organizations.

The Iowa Board of Regents, the Iowa Association of Community Colleges and the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities plan to come together to discuss what can be done to stem the flow of crime on campus.

The Board of Regents is the governing body of nine individuals charged with overseeing the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

The summit will look for ways to improve responses to emergencies, support for victims of sexual assault and aid communication and investigations. In addition, it will deal with judicial processes and training bystanders.

The October 18 summit is scheduled to last six hours. Opening remarks will be delivered by Bonnie Campbell, a former Iowa Attorney General and the founding director of the Violence Against Women Center in Washington, DC.

The day will include multiple sessions broken up into the tracks of prevention and training, risk assessment and management, and response. These tracks will deal with both campus procedures as well as legal requirements.

In a statement, Dr. Robert Donley, executive director of the Board of Reagants, described the summit as “a unique opportunity for collaboration among higher education institutions in Iowa to address critical safety issues on our campuses.”

The Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault released a statement encouraging colleges and universities to work within the spirit of the campus “SaVE” act.

SaVE, or the “Campus Sexual Violence Act”, is a series of amendments to the Clery Act signed into law by President Obama on March 7, 2013. It introduced new requirements for reporting sex offenses and aggravated assaults, educating students and employees on sexual violence and discipline. 

The summit is the most recent development in a series of actions taken by the Board of Regents to improve campus safety. On June 4, the board met at created a campus safety and security sub-committee that will meet twice yearly.

According to the meeting agenda, the purpose of the sub-committee is to monitor and review campus safety and security reports and campus safety and security issues as they arise.