Members of the University community feel safer on campus now than they did in 1989, but women feel significantly less safe than men.
That's the finding of a follow-up survey that the Institute for Social Research conducted at the request of the University Task Force on Campus Safety and Security. The task force hoped the survey would trace the community's attitude toward campus safety during the past eight years to see whether progress has been made.
Political science Prof. Ronald Inglehart, who conducted the study, said that while campus security has been seen as a significant problem for awhile, University students and faculty have seen improvements in the last eight years.
"The findings of the new survey reveal that there is still widespread concern about security among the people who live and work here, especially among women," he said.
The study found that 54 percent of the members of the University community are afraid to go out alone to certain places on or near campus after dark.
"It reflects a significant improvement from the 1989 survey, when 62 percent said that they were afraid to go certain places after dark," Inglehart said.
Thirty-four percent of the men interviewed for this year's survey said they were afraid to go to certain places after dark, compared to 84 percent of women who expressed such fears.
"Attitudes on this topic do not polarize very much according to race or occupation, but the difference between the perception of men and women are massive," Inglehart said. "The survey shows that campus security is above all, a gender issue.
"Women are far more concerned with campus security problems than are men, and likelier to support more measures designed to cope with threats to individual safety," Inglehart said.
Inglehart also said the study showed that minorities were slightly more concerned with campus safety.
"(Racial) differences are not great," he said. "One exception is attitudes toward racial harassment where African-Americans show more concern than whites."
LSA first-year student Nancy Denner said she doesn't think the safety services on campus are comprehensive enough.
"I would like to see them run more public forums on what to do in certain situations and how to avoid dangerous situations," Denner said. "They should also try to get more students involved in programs such as Safewalk."
After 1989's survey was made public, University officials decided to expand the Department of Public Safety - adding officers who patrol campus and control access to buildings.
Leo Heatley, director of DPS, said the study is helpful.
"Upon initial review it appears that people feel safer than they did when the original survey was done in 1989. The report also shows we have room for improvement," Heatley said. "DPS is looking forward to working in partnership with the University community to make our campus safer."
Michigan Student Assembly member Jennifer Genovese, who chairs the campus safety commission, said assembly members are in the process of conducting their own campus safety survey.
"Right now we're waiting for more of the surveys to come in but the ones that have come in show that people definitely feel more at ease on campus," Genovese said. "We believe this is due to the increase in participation in Safewalk, Nightowl and other programs."
Paul Boylan, dean of the School of Music and vice provost for the arts, chairs the 14-member safety task force that requested this year's survey results. He said he soon hopes to present his committee's work to students.
"The group has been taking a thorough and thoughtful look at security issues on campus including a broader view of the 'human climate'," Boylan said.
The survey also suggested that an overwhelming number of participants had similar ideas about how to improve safety. Some of the most popular possible measures included increasing police visibility, implementing tougher alcohol policies, and providing mini-police stations at various campus locations.
LSA first-year student Joseph Hunter said a visible police force is important.
"I know a lot of people who don't want to go to certain places on campus because there aren't any police to enforce any rules," Hunter said.
"When you go out and party at a bar you want to be safe as possible."