Date of Award
8-1-2013
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Health Education
First Advisor
Ratnapradipa, Dhitinut
Abstract
The postsecondary acts of violence at Virginia Technical University (VT) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) forced Illinois legislators to approve the Campus Security Enhancement Act in 2008 (110 ILCS 12/20). The Act requires all private and public postsecondary education institutions to develop a Campus Violence Prevention Plan (CVPP), as well as two multi-disciplinary groups to implement the plan and address behaviors of concern, a Campus Violence Prevention Committee (CVPC) and Threat Assessment Team (TAT) (CESA, 2008). Recent research has uncovered that several institutions within the state have not completed their CVPP and the Act has left some institutions unsure of which agency to report to and how to effectively develop and implement their CVPP (Gregory, 2012; Pawlowski & Manetti, 2011). This research study is the first investigation into the groundbreaking Illinois legislation. Utilizing a case study design, the purpose of the research study is to explore how three Illinois postsecondary institutions of similar Carnegie classifications created, implemented, assessed, and addressed challenges in developing their CVPP's. One-on-one interviews and document analysis were used to gather data. With-in case analysis and cross-case analysis were performed to generated research themes to answer the research questions. Four cross-case analysis themes were created to answer the corresponding research questions. Conclusions from this study may assist other Illinois postsecondary institutions in developing their CVPP's and decrease the likelihood of violence occurring in the postsecondary environment.
Access
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