Community Safety Advisory Council

The Academic Year 2021-22 CARES Annual Report provides an overview of the progress of the CARES Department.

The charge for CSAC includes:

• Work closely with the CARES team to educate and define community safety at Barnard.
• Host public events and regularly engage Barnard students, faculty, and staff to seek broad input on how to improve community safety.
• Serve as a liaison for community concerns or issues that relate to campus safety in all its forms.
• Assist with review and publishing an annual report on the work conducted by CARES, which will include an evaluation of campus safety efforts.
• Continue to identify structures and policies at Barnard, particularly in regards to safety, that diminish safe and equitable inclusive access for all Barnard community members and offer proposals to institutional leadership.

Community Safety Group

Barnard College prides itself on academic excellence, which cannot exist without a diverse community where everyone feels welcome and safe. To support these values, Barnard formed the Community Safety Group in April 2019. Reporting to the President, this Group was charged with discussing broad issues related to campus safety, including concerns about racial and other forms of bias and their consequences, accessibility, who feels welcome in different spaces, and advising on improved structures for relationship building, training, and community oversight. 

Using input from many different groups, identities, and constituencies, the evolving work of this group will be both strategic and tactical, conceptual and practical. Matters for the Group to address included: 

• Providing opportunities for diverse voices to be heard and acknowledged in ongoing open sessions where people can share their personal experiences with matters of safety on our campus;
• Determining an overall philosophy of how to keep people safe on campus and how the current mission of public safety aligns with it;
• Considering the use of language in communications about campus safety; 
• Reviewing the relationships between Community Safety and the community, particularly students, faculty, staff, and visitors of color;
• Recommending how current policies, procedures, and practices of Community Safety can be improved to meet the needs of the diverse populations on campus;
• Providing advice and input regarding Community Safety training curriculum and content; 
• Providing advice and input regarding training and support for members of the community; and
• Developing clear and transparent procedures for when community members have concerns about the conduct of Community Safety staff.

Overview of 2020-2021 work

• Continue to build relationships across public safety, faculty, staff, and students
• Administer the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates, which was rescheduled to Fall 2020 due to the pandemic. The survey was administered in October 2020 and the CSG will convene community meetings to discuss the results in early spring 2021.
• Evaluate data and procedures of BCPS (now Community Safety) and its relationship to Columbia Public Safety and the NYPD (per New York law, Barnard Community Safety coordinates with the NYPD on crime investigation and reporting)
• Work closely with the newly appointed AVP for CARES to develop a unit with enhanced training around psychosocial safety, anti-racism, and a deeper understanding of the diversity of identities in the Barnard community and hire a new director of CARES. 
• A revision of the Community Safety uniform
• Weekly (now bi-weekly with expanded breakout sessions) Monday assemblies to provide space for support and study for racial justice. These assemblies are well-attended by members of the community, including Pres. Beilock and members of her leadership team.

The Barnard Community Safety Group has been an important part of the College’s commitment to examining the intersections of identity, civic life, and social justice not just on our campus but also in the larger context of Columbia University, the dynamics of New York City, and the national and international climates so that we can create a place where all members of our community feel acknowledged and respected.

Membership AY2020-21

The Community Safety Group was chaired by Ariana González Stokas, the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the 2020-2021 members were:

• Chelsea Sinclair '21
• Emily Ndiokho '22
• Professor Colin Leach
• Professor Jennifer Mansfield 
• Professor Monica Miller
• Cynthia Yang, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President
• Deshawn Cook, Assistant Director of Student Life
• Amy Zavadil, Associate Vice President for CARES
• Roger Mosier, Vice President for Operations and Campus Services
• DeShaunta Johnson, Ombudsperson