The budget crunch impacting nearly all university departments this fall is forcing the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety to condense its campus and community outreach programs.

Police officials, though, believe the change will help maximize attendance and the effectiveness of programs.

The department offers programs each year to campus groups, community organizations and dormitory floors on such topics as alcohol responsibility and personal safety.

"We aren't going to be able to be quite as flexible with our programming," MSU police Inspector Mary Johnson said. "But we are hoping that the final effect will be a better service by focusing our efforts and putting out a good product rather than going for quantity."

In the past, the department was able to design programs to match small audiences, but now it expects to open up the seminars to larger groups. Instead of speaking to one floor of a dormitory, officials expect to have one outing for an entire building - drawing bigger audiences.

MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said the changes will make programs more "constructive."

"The way they were done previously, we weren't getting the types of crowds that we wanted," McGlothian-Taylor said.

With the university adjusting to budget cutbacks, the department is taking measures to be more efficient and avoid extra costs, such as overtime.

"We are trying to bend over backwards to make sure these are scheduled in advance to avoid any unnecessary costs," Johnson said.

The department recently adjusted officer shifts to 12 hours, which has helped maximize the policing efforts during the peak times for service calls.

"On quiet evenings - Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday - when we don't have high volumes of calls, we don't necessarily staff as heavy as we do on Thursday or Friday or Saturday," Johnson said.

"We found that going to 12-hour shifts, we have been able to do some effective preplanning that has reduced overtime costs and still improved the quality of service."

Even though cuts have impacted departments university-wide, Johnson said the university isn't looking to reduce policing.

"Right now, the university is very safety-conscious and they really support our department and want to make sure campus is safe," she said.

"They are not looking to cut in that area, but we are looking to tighten in those areas where we can help."