The latest activities toward strengthening security and safety on the East Lansing campus are detailed below. Additional safety tips are available from the Department of Police and public Safety.
The MSU community is encouraged to log on to alert.msu.edu to review and update their notification preferences as well as to download the SafeMSU app and enable push notifications.
Active violence response training
An Active Violence Incident, or AVI, Awareness training course is available and strongly recommended for all students, faculty and staff. It can be accessed on MSU’s Ability Training platform by logging in with your MSU NetID and password. Once logged in, click the Launch button to begin the course. An instructional video also has been added to the department’s YouTube channel .
We understand that this training may be difficult for some to complete following the violence our community experienced. Keeping this in mind, community members are encouraged to complete it on their own time, at the time that works best for them. In addition to the online training, MSU DPPS offers in-person training for students, faculty and staff. To request in-person training, please visit our Community Program Participation page .
Door locks
MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities has completed their work to install hundreds of new door locks for classrooms and teaching lab spaces across campus in time for the start of the fall 2024 semester.
The new locks allow those inside the room to lock the door while still permitting emergency personnel to enter. Those inside the room will always have the ability to leave even when a door is locked. Faculty, students and staff should only engage the locks during an emergency presenting an active threat.
Larger auditorium-style classrooms with multiple entrances and exits are receiving locks engaged with a lockdown button. Doors with this feature will automatically lock when the button is pushed and all the doors are closed. Pushing the button will also immediately notify emergency personnel. Directions for use are posted next to the button.
All other academic spaces are receiving new door handles with a thumb-turn lock on the inside of the door. This feature includes clear identification for if the door is locked or unlocked.
New locks are not being installed in office spaces as most already can be locked with a key or via a toggle on the door edge.
The new locks allow those inside the room to lock the door while still permitting emergency personnel to enter. Those inside the room will always have the ability to leave even when a door is locked. Faculty, students and staff should only engage the locks during an emergency presenting an active threat.
Larger auditorium-style classrooms with multiple entrances and exits are receiving locks engaged with a lockdown button. Doors with this feature will automatically lock when the button is pushed and all the doors are closed. Pushing the button will also immediately notify emergency personnel. Directions for use are posted next to the button.
All other academic spaces are receiving new door handles with a thumb-turn lock on the inside of the door. This feature includes clear identification for if the door is locked or unlocked.
New locks are not being installed in office spaces as most already can be locked with a key or via a toggle on the door edge.
Campus building hours
Effective March 13, 2023, most buildings on the East Lansing campus now require key card access daily between 6 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. Current students, faculty and staff have access to public buildings excluding student living spaces.
Third-party after-action review
Security Risk Management Consultants completed an independent review of MSU’s response. The 25-page report details the firm’s findings and recommendations to strengthen campus safety and security, as well as bolster future responses to emergency events.
Security Operations Center
The permanent space for the MSU Security Operations Center, or SOC, is completed and in use as DPPS continues to centralize the university’s security systems. Twelve full-time employees, organized into four teams, have been trained to staff the center, which is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More than 2,000 building alarms and roughly 1,900 cameras are monitored across the East Lansing campus, providing real-time surveillance. MSU continues to integrate existing camera systems from across campus to provide real-time coverage. The center also monitors and controls access points to buildings on campus.
Emergency alerts
The SafeMSU app now includes emergency alert push notifications for users who have the app downloaded on their smart devises. Additionally, the East Lansing campus outdoor sirens include tone-based alerts and desk phones managed by MSU IT will play audible alerts during threats of active violence. The university also has partnered with the Ingham County Office of Emergency Management to access the state Wireless Emergency Alerts if needed.
MSU also now automatically enrolls cell phone and preferred/primary residence phone numbers for students and employees into the MSU Alert system and SafeMSU app . All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to log in to EBS or SIS to update contact information by visiting alert.msu.edu .