Category: Updates

As the academic and fiscal years draw to a close, it’s time for a look-back and a report out on some of what the Division of Campus Community Safety (DCCS) accomplished this year.

DCCS, which includes SafeCampus, UW Emergency Management, UW Police (Seattle campus), Business & Academic Continuity & Resiliency and Crisis Communications, is guided by the goals of accountability, transparency, innovation and equity. Putting these goals into practice at the ground level in a difficult, unstable world can be a challenge. DCCS team members show up to take on that challenge every day with energy, creativity and empathy.

A few items of note from the past year.

Preparing for the next emergency… and the next one

UW Emergency Management (UWEM) started the school year with the President’s Cabinet and the Board of Deans & Chancellors in a September tabletop exercise predicated on a spiraling Seattle campus incident. What better way to start the year than catastrophizing together! Seriously, though, this time dedicated to walking through roles and responsibilities is critical to how teams perform in a real crisis.

UWEM provided support during multiple events in the past year, assisting the University’s Incident Coordination Team and Weather Status Assessment Group for events involving severe weather, major protest activities, campus infrastructures challenges (like power outages and water pressure issues) and more.

To help the UW better prepare for natural disasters and other emergencies in the future, UWEM and campus partners in December 2024 began work on a tool that identifies the top natural and human-made risks to UW’s Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses. This Threats and Hazard Identification Risk Assessment will be a building block for updating the University’s emergency plans.

This year UWEM added Deputy Director Rob Sabarese and Training and Exercise Manager Michael Palacioz to the team, allowing UWEM to fully step into emergency response planning and developing a preparedness and roles/responsibilities training calendar. Watch for the training calendar to go live on the UWEM website this fall.

Safety planning and group de-escalation training

SafeCampus, UW’s model violence prevention and safety planning program, received slightly fewer calls from students, faculty and staff across all of UW in the past academic year. However, cases proved more complex and were more likely to involve members of the public or unknown individuals.

This may reflect broader health and safety challenges in the surrounding city, including persistently high numbers of homeless and unwell individuals in Seattle, as well as substance abuse and mental health crises.
The unpredictability of some encounters in public and open-campus spaces was a key factor in the development last year of a new de-escalation training, designed to better equip university staff and faculty to respond to moments of tension with care and clarity. As of this year SafeCampus has trained 380 UW students, faculty and staff in de-escalation. To request training for your area, please reach out to SafeCampus at safecampus@uw.edu.

Recruitment, reaccreditation and laptop reunions

UW Police Department officers on the Seattle campus responded to 11,696 calls for service over the academic year. This included too many calls regarding stolen laptops and bikes. In good news, officers reunited laptops and bikes with the rightful owners a surprising number of times!

While UWPD remains in high recruitment mode to fill vacancies with great people, In the past year, the department has welcomed three new UWPD officers, four new Campus Safety Responders, and eight new security guards. As a small department serving a big community in a big city, UWPD personnel have worked hard and smart.

UWPD is the first and only university law enforcement agency in Washington state accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). This is a chance for UWPD to test itself against the highest standards (532 of them, to be exact) for excellence in law enforcement. UWPD, which is also accredited by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, will find out this summer if it earned re-accreditation for a 25th year.

Thanks to generous support from the community, UWPD continued to provide safe rides home with a security guard for students and staff learning or working late. Last year, the program, previously known as Husky NightWalk became Husky SafeTrip in order to better describe this service. The service name changed just before the start of last fall quarter. The service remains popular. UWPD started working with a student group this past year on the possibility of an app for SafeTrip dispatch instead of calling UWPD to request a ride. Stay tuned.

Business continuity planning gets a boost

UW’s Business, Academic, and Research Continuity (BARC) program unveiled new tools this year to help departments and programs make plans to continue services during and after a disruption. The needs could range from how long a unit can work from home in extreme weather, to how a department can continue to function in the event the entire email system goes down.

In February 2025, BARC introduced the new Husky Ready online planning tool, a user-friendly platform with embedded guidance to make the continuity planning process easier and provide more in-depth information for departments using the plan during and after a disruption.

To support effective implementation, UW introduced BARC cohorts — a structured, six-month program that guides unit leads through the continuity planning process via monthly meetings (with snacks). The first cohort began on March 12 with a second starting in July. Want to join a cohort or learn more about the planning process? Submit the BARC Contact Us form or email continuity@uw.edu.

Ensuring free speech and a safe learning environment

World and national events continue to heighten anxiety for many in our campus communities. This year we saw multiple campus protests in Seattle and a redoubling of efforts to protect the exercise of free speech and ensure all students, staff and faculty feel safe on campuses. As a small department, UWPD relied on the support of area law enforcement partners to ensure staffing numbers appropriate for events.

DCCS units actively collaborated this year with partners in UW’s Compliance & Risk Services Division to initiate setting up a new Title VI office for reports of harassment and discrimination based on race, national origin and shared ancestry. This will be a central office for investigating antisemitism and Islamophobia. Watch for launch this fall.

Renewing REACH and launching Husky Assist

It’s been two years already since UW and REACH signed a contract for an outreach worker to connect with unhoused, often unwell people on the Seattle campus. The experience of the last two years has shown REACH to be a valuable partner in building relationships that turn into opportunities for their unhoused clients. That has meant basic deescalation with someone in crisis, but it’s also meant in some cases connections to temporary and permanent housing and regular access to medication.

Based on feedback from building coordinators, UWPD, Safe Campus and others, we’re renewing with REACH for another two years.

In this past school year, DCCS made significant progress on launching an on-call mental health crisis intervention team for students, staff and faculty on the Seattle campus. Husky Assist, a team of skilled and compassionate mental health crisis responders, will continue to provide on-campus support for individuals experiencing emotional distress, suicidal ideation, self-harm or in need of a welfare check. The team may respond independently or with UW police officers, depending on the safety of the situation.

Long a goal, President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Tricia Serio dedicated funding for a new team starting in this past academic year. Since then, a broad group has collaborated on the basics of building a program. A few staff visited Oregon State University’s program this past November for lessons. In May, Husky Assist welcomed its first director, Jennifer Magnani.

Watch for launch details coming this fall.

Crisis communications and U District advocacy

Over the past academic year the Crisis Communications team for the Seattle campus met 27 times. The teams at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma met 11 times and nine times respectively. While not all activations result in an alert, these teams functioned effectively in assessing a situation and determining if an alert should be sent.

Spring quarter saw a higher number of incidents involving guns being brandished or fired. Gun violence on or near campus is unacceptable. DCCS and UWPD staff met this spring quarter with the new Chief of the Seattle Police Department and the new SPD North Precinct Commander to discuss mutual interests in campus and neighborhood safety. In addition, UWPD and SPD met with Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic house leaders to air concerns and share advice for safety north of campus.

Thank you

So many partners contribute to incident prevention, education, training and emergency response, including Facilities, Environmental Health & Safety, UW Medicine and Student Life, to name just a few. The information sharing and collaborations across campuses makes all three teams stronger, better and more effective in serving the needs of our students and campus communities.

Finally, thank you to all the students, staff and faculty thinking about what it means to be together in classrooms, labs, libraries, offices and open spaces in what can feel like a difficult, sharp-edged time.

DCCS team members show up to take on that challenge every day with energy, creativity and empathy. We are inspired by the incredible acts of compassion and support between individuals and teams each and every day. Happy summer.

Five-four-three-two-one… relaunch! The UW’s Business, Academic and Research Continuity program relaunches this month with new tools to help you and your unit create a plan for navigating emergencies and disruptions.

The past several years of pandemic, weather and infrastructure breaks have reminded students, staff, faculty and researchers that disruptions can happen anytime and be costly, but they can also be weathered with good planning and adaptation. That’s what BARC is all about. Through BARC, you and your group identify your critical functions, determine potential disruptions (e.g., email goes down or power goes out), and plan for how to safeguard critical materials and restore some level of function.

BARC’s re-launch comes with two key changes: a revamped Husky Ready online planning tool and the introduction of continuity planning cohorts for a supportive, collaborative environment in which to make your plan.

The new version of Husky Ready provides the opportunity to update an existing plan or start the planning process for the first time. (Detailed information about the new Husky Ready has been sent to anyone designated previously as the person responsible for their department’s continuity plan or who may have been involved in prior continuity planning at UW.

These changes are part of the University’s commitment to building and supporting a culture of resilience. As detailed in Administrative Policy Statement 13.2, all areas at the UW need to have a plan for getting through disruptions.

Create stronger continuity plans with the new version of Husky Ready

The new version of Husky Ready makes the planning process more straightforward and provides more in-depth information for departments using their plan during and after a disruption.

The new Husky Ready includes embedded guidance and how-to information to help make your plan. Also, it brings together preparedness activities, standard business continuity practices, continuity strategy development, exercise tracking and operational risk management concepts.

Join a BARC cohort – make your plan in 6 months

Developing a continuity plan by yourself can be challenging. No need to go it alone. You’re invited to join a BARC cohort, a facilitated step-by-step planning process. Along with planners from other units across campus, you’ll build your plan in six months. The cohort will include monthly meetings (hybrid), plus a few treats and rewards for participants. Get the support you need to check continuity planning off your list in 2025.

The first cohort starts on March 12. To join this cohort submit the Contact Us form as soon as possible. Additional cohorts will be added as interest builds. You’re also welcome to submit the form to express interest in a future cohort. Want to know more? Email continuity@uw.edu.

BARC is here to help!

Please get in touch and share your continuity planning needs. Submit the Contact Us form with any questions you have.

The University of Washington is dedicated to a safe learning, teaching, research and visitor environment in a diverse community that values compassion and belonging. Working together to foster a community that feels safe is essential for Huskies to thrive academically and professionally in Seattle, Bothell, Tacoma, and the UW’s various other locations.

The University maintains this commitment in compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations.

As UW President Ana Mari Cauce recently noted, Washington state law prohibits the sharing of information or use of state resources, including University resources, to target Washington residents solely on the basis of race, religion, immigration, citizenship status, or national or ethnic origin, except when otherwise complying with federal or state law. In addition, most student information is protected by federal law (FERPA).

While immigration officials cannot enter a classroom, laboratory, campus residence or private office without an appropriate warrant or judicial order, the UW cannot legally prevent federal immigration officials from coming into the public spaces of a UW campus or facility. There may also be instances when UW will be required to respond to valid criminal warrants or judicial orders.

In the event of a federal official from Immigration & Customs Enforcement or another agency appearing and requesting information or access, the University has developed guidelines for response.

Protocol

If a student, faculty member or staff person on a UW campus or in a UW location is approached by a federal enforcement officer who requests access to UW facilities, inquires about members of the campus community or requests access to records, please follow these guidelines.

1. Request information: Remain calm and professional. Ask the law enforcement officer for their name, identification number and agency affiliation. You can ask them to take a seat nearby in a public area while they wait for you to contact a campus safety officer and your supervisor or, in the case of UW Medicine locations, the On Call Administrator.

Inform the agent that UW protocol requires you to contact your campus safety office, supervisor and/or Administrator On Call: A trained officer or campus safety employee will respond to take over engagement with the agent, determine the purpose of their visit and involve the Attorney General’s Office.

Campus and facility safety contacts:

• UW Bothell Campus Safety Department: 425-352-5359
• University of Washington Police Department (Seattle campus): 911 or 206-685-8973 (these are answered by UWPD)
• UW Tacoma Campus Safety & Security: 253-692-4416
• UW Medicine clinical facilities: Please contact the Administrator On Call for your specific facility.

If your UW facility isn’t on a campus or part of UW Medicine, UWHR will coordinate training for a designated on-site supervisor.

2. Protect student and employee privacy: Please do not answer questions regarding confidential information unless told to do so by UWPD, your campus safety office or the Attorney General’s Office. Examples of personally identifiable information may include and are not limited to names, contact information, class lists, student schedules, etc. As always, ensure compliance with FERPA and HIPAA regulations.

Remember to not lie to law enforcement agents. Also, it’s not your role to accept legal documents on the University’s behalf. It’s best to wait for UW officials to arrive or direct delivery to the UW’s attorney general’s office.

If you are questioned by agents, consider these responses:
“I am not authorized to answer your questions.”
“I am not authorized to review or accept legal documents”
“I have been instructed to call the UW Police Department/Campus Safety Office before you proceed. Please wait while I do that.”
“I will call my supervisor now.”

UW supervisors, UWHR has published a new website to house resources related to the many federal policy changes that may impact our workplace— https://hr.uw.edu/fedpolicy/. Additional resources will be developed and added to this site in close collaboration with executive leadership.

3. Do not attempt to physically block or interfere with an agent.

4. Additional support is available for you.
Mental health support is available for UW students and employees.

• Students: Mental health resources in Seattle; UW Tacoma Psychological & Wellness Services; UW Bothell Counseling Center
• Employees: Washington State Employee Assistance Program (WA EAP)

It’s 7:45 p.m. on an October night and a sprinkle of stars can be seen in the sky above the University of Washington’s Seattle campus.

Natalie Flores, a first-year UW student who just finished work at the Husky Union Building, is concerned about walking home across campus by herself. She calls 206-685-9255 for a ride home via a UW Police Department security guard.

“It means a lot that I can call and get a safe ride,” Flores said.

Through Husky SafeTrip (formerly Husky NightWalk), UWPD security guards provide a ride at night (6:30 p.m.-2 a.m.) for students and employees from UW buildings to homes on or near campus, to parking lots and to transit (see box for service info).

The program is getting the new name to more accurately describe the service (it’s not a walk anymore). This comes at the same time that the Husky NightRide shuttle is revamping as well, with easier to see stops on campus and fully branded vans making it easier to catch the shuttle and take it where you need to go on campus or in the U District.

James Bynum, one of several security guards who work Husky SafeTrip rides over the course of a year, gives up to 40 rides a night to students like Flores and UW psychology student Emily Bu, who called SafeTrip after on-campus water polo practice because she didn’t want to walk by herself.

“I wanted to play it safe,” Bu said from the backseat of the UWPD all-electric security sedan.

Like many students, she’s called SafeTrip before. Bynum has regular riders who will join him in singing along to his SafeTrip playlist. One regular is a faculty member who calls for a safety escort from a late class.

“SafeTrip exists so she doesn’t have to get to her car on her own,” said Bynum, who was recently promoted to a UW Campus Safety Responder serving residence halls.

The secure ride program received a generous donation in 2016 to expand the service area into the University District. With ongoing contributions from students, families and alumni, the service can continue to meet the needs of students for secure rides after dark for years to come.

SafeTrip is not available for routine errands, but HuskyCards are good on transit anytime and going anywhere.

Learn more about Husky SafeTrip.

Visit the new hazing website for important information on policies, practices, services and programs to prevent hazing at the UW. Required hazing prevention training will begin for UW faculty, staff and student employees in autumn quarter 2024.

When you think about business continuity, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn’t zebrafish.

Every unit at UW from Astrophysics to Zoology has a need for continuity planning in case of severe weather or a power outage or a different type of tragedy. Knowing what to do and who to call when something goes wrong that could affect the ability to hold classes, care for patients or conduct research is the heart of business continuity at the University of Washington.

Which brings us back to zebrafish. Across the UW’s Health Sciences schools, 15 principal investigators use the tiny striped tropical fish to study everything from vision and hearing loss to cancer and toxicology. Zebrafish are crucial for scientific research because of unique qualities that make them excellent models for studying various aspects of biology and human health.

When a cyberattack shut down the zebrafish’s water system on Dec. 22, 2023, researchers and staff worked together to manually change the water and maintain the correct water quality.

Next, they reached out for help. Because the hack happened right before Christmas, most of the people they would have contacted were out of the office. Moreover, the vendor no longer provided service for the system. UW-IT wasn’t able to help because it wasn’t a UW system. Staff acted quickly to make workarounds work, but the event was stressful for everyone and resulted in a decrease in colony size to ensure care of the fish.

That’s just one example of the many people and systems that the UW relies on every day. Having a plan for what to do if something goes awry — including at night and during holidays — reduces the impact of the interruption.

UW’s Business, Academic & Research Continuity (BARC) program can assist with building that plan. BARC helps ensure seamless and sustained UW operations during disruptive events by promoting a culture of resilience, mitigating risks and minimizing the impact of incidents. In the past year, UW’s Division of Campus Community Safety has reestablished the BARC program, which is led by Jim Tritten. BARC serves all UW units at all UW locations.

Learn more about BARC in this year’s BARC annual report and watch for a new BARC website this autumn.

UW scholars who are being targeted for harassment because of what they research, publish or say in the classroom may feel rightly anxious and overwhelmed. The online harassment can seem to come from nowhere and feel personal, even threatening. However, there are proven ways to outsmart harassers and help protect each other.

UW Professor Monica R. McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, the director of the Manning Price Spratlen Center for Anti-Racism & Equity in Nursing and a reproductive justice advocate whose scientific research has been widely cited, has faced everything from credible death threats to social media campaigns targeting her work. She shared her strategies with her UW colleagues at a recent AAUP workshop, “Digital Alchemy: Equipping Educators with Tools to Outsmart Online Harassment.”

Her first tip: Surround yourself with other public scholars. It’s especially important to support scholars early in their careers.

One of her other tips is to ask for help when you need it. The UW has a new resource to help scholars who are experiencing harassment, developed with expertise from UW-IT, SafeCampus, Human Resources, the University of Washington Police Department, University Marketing & Communications and UW’s Privacy Office. The new webpage, “Support for UW scholars experiencing targeted harassment” includes information about ways to report abuse, documenting harassment — whether online or via other avenues — and protecting your personal information.

Most importantly, UW scholars do not need to face harassment on their own. There’s a community of Huskies who are here to help. Check out the website to learn more.

In the past few months, the University of Washington has added more than 47,000 student phone numbers to the UW Alert system, so that more people will receive a text message when an emergency happens on or near campus in Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma. If you are one of those students, welcome!

With so many students receiving their first UW Alert texts, here’s a primer on why, how and when the University sends out UW Alert and UW Advisory messages.

When does the UW send a UW Alert or UW Advisory message?

A UW Alert message is sent when we have reliable information about an emergency – a situation that poses an immediate potential threat to the health and safety of the UW community on or near campus.

Incidents that prompt an alert message could include an active shooter, other violent crimes or severe weather.

A UW Advisory gets sent the same way, but is used to make the community aware of a significant situation that does not pose an immediate threat to health and safety, but could be disruptive. These could include power outages, phone outages that could affect 911 service and suspended campus operations.

It is important to note that UW must have reliable information about such an incident before issuing a UW Alert or UW Advisory. Often, that means working with other law enforcement or fire department partners. For the UW campus in Seattle, UW spaces are patrolled by UWPD, while the neighborhoods around campus are patrolled by the Seattle Police Department. At UW Tacoma and UW Bothell, local police patrol both campuses and work in partnership with campus safety.

Who sends UW Alert messages?

Each UW campus has its own Crisis Communications Team with representatives from a variety of departments and divisions. When a potential emergency or other situation arises, that team meets by phone or video call.

For example, when Seattle Police received a report of shots fired in the 1600 block of NE 50th Street on April 16, UW Police heard the call and immediately convened the team. Fourteen members of the UW Crisis Communications Team joined a conference call within 60 seconds.

The chair of the team, in collaboration with the team members, quickly reviews event details and decides if a message will be sent. The chair (or the backup) writes the message, which is shared via email, text message, on social media, UW’s website and on the UW Alert blog for each campus. Check out the UW Alert blogs for Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell.

Once the team has reliable information these messages can be issued in a matter of minutes. An important note: If there is credible information about an active shooter, a UW Alert can be sent immediately by UWPD before the full team convenes for a call.

In Seattle, the team includes members from the UW Police Department, Communications, Campus Community Safety, UW Emergency Management, Environmental Health & Safety, Housing & Food Services, UW-IT and UW Medicine, with liaisons from UW Bothell and UW Tacoma. For UW Bothell and UW Tacoma, the teams look similar and are captained by the Campus Safety leads.

What does the Crisis Communications Team consider when deciding whether to send an alert?

UW is required by federal law (the Clery Act) to quickly share information about serious incidents that pose an immediate threat to the campus community when those crimes happen on campus or on property near campus.

The Crisis Communications Team considers sending alerts or advisories for incidents that happen on campus or within several blocks surrounding each UW property. At UW in Seattle, the team typically looks at incidents within about a five block radius of campus.

The Crisis Communications Team considers several factors before issuing a UW Alert or UW Advisory, including verifiable information, the time passed since the incident occurred, and whether there’s a significant, urgent safety risk to students, faculty and staff that may require quick action.

When students, faculty and staff need to know about a serious crime that happened on or near campus, but no immediate action is needed or too much time has passed to make a UW Alert message useful, the University of Washington Police Department will inform campus via email in what’s called a Notification of Criminal Incident. For example, a recent notification let students know about gunshots fired between University Way NE and 15th Ave. NE. No one was hurt.

It’s a lot to consider, and the team must quickly reach a decision about whether or not to issue a UW Alert or UW Advisory, often with incomplete initial information. If an alert or advisory is sent, the team will often post updates to the UW Alert blog, if they are available, and will generally send a final, closing update to let the campus community know that the immediate threat has ended.

What information is included in suspect descriptions?

When a reliable description of the person or people involved in a reported crime is available, it will be included in the UW Alert message or UW Alert blog. If a suspect photo is available and after consultation with Seattle police, that will be posted on the blog. Suspect descriptions usually do not include race because historically they’ve proven inconsistent and unreliable. Also, research shows that the inclusion of race does not increase the likelihood a suspect will be identified and can do more harm than good.¹

¹Fa-Kaji, Naomi M.; Cheng, Shannon K.; and Hebl, Mikki R. (2019) “The Impact of Suspect Descriptions in University Crime Reports on Racial Bias,” Personnel Assessment and Decisions: Number 5 : Iss. 2 , Article 12.

Is your UW Alert contact information correct?

Students and employees should check their UW Alert accounts regularly (the beginning and end of the academic year is a good time) to make sure your contact information is correct. You can add up to three cell phone numbers and five email addresses, including contact info for family members and friends who want to receive alerts. Remember to select the campuses you want notifications from.

Learn more

For more information about UW Alerts and to update your account, visit the UW Alert webpage.

The University is tracking multiple events scheduled to take place this evening that have the potential to cause additional noise and disruptions, particularly in the central part of the Seattle campus near the Husky Union Building, The Quad and the light rail station at Husky Stadium.

Our priority is the safety and security of our campus community. We recognize that tensions are especially high due to events around the world, and our hope is that people with opposing views refrain from seeking confrontations and avoid antagonizing one another. We do not detail or share security plans in advance of events, but are taking appropriate advance measures.

If there is a change in University operations or an emergency that poses an immediate potential threat to health and safety on or near campus, a message will be shared via the UW Alert system via SMS text message, UW Alert blog, on the UW website, Facebook and X. Please make sure your UW Alert account information is up to date.