TALLAHASSEE - Florida's Board of Governors approved an $18 million request to boost emergency-notification systems and police departments at the state's 11 public universities during a Thursday meeting here.
The efforts of the board, the State University System's highest governing body, follow a charge from board chairwoman Carolyn Roberts to improve campus safety following the Virginia Tech massacre in April, said Tico Perez, chairman of the board's Emergency Preparedness and Campus Safety Committee.
Each university has at least one improvement planned for its emergency-notification services, which accounts for almost $14 million of the $18 million. The rest is for campus law enforcement.
The state House and Senate must each approve the plans before they are implemented.
UF plans to install Internet-based loudspeakers in classrooms, labs, building areas and outdoor locations on campus - a system that would cost about $2 million.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said UF would not know when the installations would begin until after the state Legislature's session ends. But Orlando said he hopes the loudspeakers will be in place sometime this year.
UF's project is the second costliest on the list after the University of Central Florida's $2.65 million plan for emergency text-messaging and instant-messaging notices.
Perez said UF's classroom speakers are needed because students may not receive emergency text messages in labs that require them to turn their cell phones off.
He said even though it's a tough budget year, the Legislature has been "pretty good" about recognizing the importance of safety on university campuses, and he expects to receive the funds.
About $3 million of the board's campus-safety allocation will bring all the police departments within the State University System in line with the board's ideal officer-per-student ratio of 1 to 600.
The University Police Department has 90 officers for UF's more than 50,000 students, which is a 1-549 ratio. Because UF's ratio is already below the state standard, UPD will not receive more officers.
Perez said securing the money for additional safety services is not meant to parade Florida as the premier "safety" state in the nation. The board wants each university to obtain the technology it needs to best communicate an emergency with its students and faculty.
"It's a matter of stealing best practices from one another," he said. "God knows we want it all."
UF's $24-million plans to renovate Southwest Recreation Center, the Flavet Field band shell and other facilities were also approved by the full board. The plans now wait for approval by the state.
