MSU Police Inspector Penny Fischer, who commands the homeland security and planning division, said the answer to staying safe in a potential shooter situation lies with students, faculty and staff being prepared and staying informed. Beginning this spring, Fischer said there will be active violence training sessions available to faculty and staff informing them of what to do if faced with an armed shooter situation on campus. She did not release a date for when the session would begin.

The discussion about campus security was held at the last Steering Committee meeting earlier this month. Committee members talked about MSU’s emergency plans and the access the community has to them.

“I have classes, and so you know, I got thinking about my own classroom and in a situation what I might do and what I might tell the students,” said Jacqueline Wright, a nursing associate professor and the secretary for Academic Governance who attended the meeting. “It was a good topic of discussion.”

Fischer said MSU has emergency plans in place for a gunman situation and holds large drills annually and smaller drills periodically to help prepare administrators, police and students for different types of emergency situations. MSU held a campus-wide gunman situation drill in July 2012.

“We had officers set to respond, we had people serving as actors and we just tested our protocols in terms of controlling the scene and handling the situation,” she said.

Fischer said there is always room for security improvements and the plans can be accessed on the MSU Police website.

Director of Residence Education and Housing Services Kathy Collins said it is important for students, faculty and staff to review the security measures on MSU’s campus. Ways to protect oneself in a gunman situation are to listen to the orders from the police department, be aware of where the emergency is happening, properly utilize the card swiping security systems in the residence halls, follow the instructions given by MSU to evacuate a building, or stay in building and sign up for MSU Alerts, Collins said.

“The number one thing students and staff can do is sign up for MSU Alerts,” she said. “If there is an emergency on campus, we have a good system here … that’s going to notify you of what’s going on (and) where it’s happening.”

Emergency announcements also can be issued via the green security phones on campus and messages and instructions can override all of the digitized screens in campus residence halls and cafeterias. Collins said the security information is available in the residence hall handbook and is discussed at the first floor meeting of the fall and spring semesters.

“Sign up for alerts, listen to the instructions, pay attention that you only allow yourself into the building — we are responsible for our own safety in a lot of ways,” Collins said.

French senior Sarah Lapidus signed up for MSU alerts and said although she has never liked to think about a shooter in her class in Berkey Hall, she is happy MSU has security measures in place.

“It’s starting to happen more often and it’s scary,” Lapidus said. “We do need procedures put in place. The students should also be told what do if something were to happen (at MSU).”