An analysis of institution responses to school shootings and suggested practices to prevent future incidents

The following study will examine the effectiveness of recent measures being taken at the campus, state and national level in improving safety on college campuses without compromising student privacy. This study will analyze seven shootings on college campuses and the overlapping symptoms within the assailants that likely triggered such destructive actions. This will be followed by a breakdown of what institutional, state and national officials are doing to be more aware of these warning signs to prevent future violence. The study will also acknowledge what universities are doing to improve their emergency response systems to minimize the number of casualties that result from unanticipated shootings. It will provide a collection of recommendations to improve upon what is already being done with regard to campus safety and the privacy of student records. The study includes an overview of relevant federal and state laws and an explanation of the policies related to the privacy of student records. The seven university-level shootings that will be the focus of this qualitative study are: University of Iowa Graduate School of Physics (1991), Bard's School at Simon Rock (1992), Appalachian School of Law (2002), the University of Arizona-College of Nursing (2002), Case Western Reserve University Business School (2003), Virginia Tech University (2007) and Northern Illinois University (2008).