Campus Safety
Security Services
The Office of Security Services is charged with maintaining a safe and secure environment on campus. Its chief responsibilities include patrolling campus and staffing security desks; lending assistance and coordinating with first responders in emergencies; investigating reports made by students, faculty, and staff; and collecting campus crime statistics for the U.S. Department of Education. The office’s success depends heavily on cooperation from all those who it is asked to protect.
Emergency Management Committee
SVA has a standing committee comprising officials from various offices at the College that is dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of the SVA community and the continuity and/or recovery of critical operations in an emergency. The committee meets regularly to review, allocate, and coordinate resources; seek guidance from the New York Police Department, New York City Office of Emergency Management, and other local authorities; and put in place written response plans.
Each fall, SVA’s Emergency Management Committee (EMC) members participate in a tabletop exercise that tests the group’s ability to use the College’s Emergency Operations Plan to respond to a specific emergency at the College. The Higher Education Act requires universities and colleges to test their emergency response plan. This annual tabletop exercise fulfills this requirement by identifying, coordinating, and making more familiar the roles/responsibilities of the EMC and Campus Security during a major incident on campus. For information on the most recent exercise, see below.
2023 EMC Tabletop Exercise—Active Shooter Response
On Thursday, October 26, 2023, a four-hour tabletop exercise was conducted for SVA by D. Stafford Associates, a professional consulting firm specializing in campus safety and security, compliance, sexual misconduct response and investigation, and law enforcement issues on college and university campuses. The exercise was led by D. Stafford associate Frank Zebedis, a veteran of law enforcement and campus security. Participants also included representatives from NYPD and FDNY, to provide first-responder guidance and feedback.
The 2023 exercise specifically focused on the response capabilities of SVA’s Campus Security and the Emergency Management Committee to manage an active shooter on campus. The exercise focused on the following five objectives:
• Assess the EMC’s ability to gather, evaluate and disseminate information
in response to an incident on campus grounds and convey it to the EMC.
• Evaluate the EMC’s coordination with non-campus emergency
response resources.
• Consider actions to ensure continuity of operations at the College
in the days following a major incident on campus.
• Assess the communication capabilities between internal college
departments responding to an incident.
• Review policies/procedures in place for an emergency response
and building evacuation (campus-wide scale) following notification of a critical
incident impacting the College.
Following the exercise, D. Stafford issued an after-action report to the EMC evaluating the response and detailing follow-up action items. In the months following the after-action report, the EMC addressed areas of improvement, including locating a vendor for emergency response training and sharing that training with staff and faculty; improving communication with the community on the activities of the EMC via sva.edu and the e-newsletter SVA Today; expanding the number of personnel trained to use SVA’s Emergency Notification System (SVAAlert); and identifying backups and designees (alternates) for all members of the EMC.
2024 EMC Tabletop Exercise—Active Student Protest and Bomb Scare
On Thursday, October 24, 2024, a four-hour tabletop exercise was conducted for SVA by D. Stafford Associates, a professional consulting firm specializing in campus safety and security, compliance, sexual misconduct response and investigation, and law enforcement issues on college and university campuses. The exercise was led by D. Stafford associate Adrienne Murray, a veteran of law enforcement, civil rights, and campus security. Participants also included representatives from NYPD and FDNY, to provide first-responder guidance and feedback.
The 2024 exercise specifically focused on the response capabilities of SVA’s Campus Security and the Emergency Management Committee to manage protests and a bomb threat on campus.
The exercise focused on the following five objectives:
• Provide an overview of the College’s Emergency Management Plan (EMP) for today’s scenario.
• Review the EMT’s staging (policies/procedures) at the Emergency Operation’s Center (EOC) following a major incident on campus grounds.
• Define/identify EMT capabilities and areas of responsibility following a crisis declaration and/or activation of the Emergency Management Plan by the President.
• Assess the EMT's capabilities and ability to quickly gather, evaluate, and disseminate information to the campus community in response to an emergency on campus.
• Review policies/procedures in place for an emergency response and building evacuation (campus- wide scale) following notification of a critical incident impacting the campus.
Following the exercise, D. Stafford issued an after-action report to the EMC evaluating the response and detailing follow-up action items, including the following:
- Provide key employees with materials to support their roles during emergencies and drills.
- Explore upgrades to include building-wide announcement systems in all SVA facilities.
- Install clear, visible emergency signage in classrooms and public spaces across campus.
- Continue or expand emergency response training that explains expectations for various incidents (fire, bomb threat, etc.).
- Offer training on mitigating risks and maintaining personal safety (e.g., suspicious activity, relationship violence, transportation safety).
- Ensure all multi-floor buildings have designated Areas of Refuge (AORs) for persons with disabilities.
Emergency Notification
SVA transmits critical information to the College community using the following methods:
- Emergency notices, including unscheduled closings and facilities evacuations, are posted to the College’s website. Status updates will be published as new information becomes available.
- Main telephone line: Emergency notices, including unscheduled closings and facilities evacuations, are the subject of recorded announcements at 212.592.2000, SVA’s primary published telephone number.
- All Concerned Email: Bulk email messages directed to current students, faculty, and administrative staff at their SVA email addresses are used to provide more detailed information in an emergency.
- SVAlert: SVA has contracted with Rave Alert to provide an electronic notification system that allows members of the campus community to receive messages directly to a designated cell phone (as text or voice message), email address, and/or landline phone. Current students, faculty, and administrative staff are automatically enrolled in the system. To select your preferences and check that your contact information is correct, visit MyID.
- In the event that either the College’s website or the main telephone line are temporarily out of service, the College community will be directed to an alternate website and telephone number via All Concerned email and SVAlert.
In addition to the methods listed above, SVA officials may deploy other methods for notifying the College community, including security officers, fire brigades, and other SVA staff.