(Updated: 2:15 pm., Oct. 2, 2015)

Shoreline Community College officials say their thoughts and support are with the people at Umpqua Community College as details continue to come out about the tragic and heart-wrenching shooting at the college today, Oct. 1, 2015.

According to news reports, 10 people died and additional people were wounded in the shooting on the campus near Roseburg, Ore. Authorities said the gunman was one of the 10 fatalities.

“This is such a tragic event,” Shoreline President Cheryl Roberts said. Roberts had been president at Chemeketa Community College, north of Umpqua, until 2014, when she came to Shoreline. “We are all affected by these events. We are making our counselors available to all Shoreline employees and students who may need support.” Counseling services can be contacted at 206-546-4559.

Roberts added that this is also a time for all employees and students to remind themselves of the procedures in place at Shoreline.

Shoreline has an adopted emergency response plan that is available online at www.shoreline.edu/safetyandsecurity and includes information about how to respond to incidents like what has occurred at Umpqua as well as many other situations. In addition, the college implemented an emergency training program for all employees over the past two years. A building-monitor program is also in place to provide building-specific support and direction across the campus.

This past summer, the college executive team attended three days of emergency management training approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In the event of an emergency, the college uses the RaveAlert system that can quickly send messages to all employees and students via email, text, voice and social media.

Training will continue this year with the addition of an online class that will be available to all employees. Safety and Security Director Robin Blacksmith has been working with the college eLearning staff to create the class.

“We are doing the training,” Roberts said. “The next steps will be to increase the number of drills and practice sessions so that employees and students are well aware of emergency procedures.”

The college is also working on a weapons policy for the campus. The College Council, a representative body of employees and students, this past year developed and resolved such a policy near the end of the academic year. This fall, that policy will move through the approval process that would result in adoption, said Vice President for Human Resources and Legal Affairs Stephen P. Smith.

“The event that occurred today at Umpqua is horrific,” Roberts said. “We continue to put in place the measures we can to prepare for something that we hope never comes our way.”

It was a busy day on Tuesday, Sept. 29, as employees and students had opportunities see and ask questions on three important projects for Shoreline Community College.

“As I shared in my remarks at Convocation, we have put a lot of things in motion, which is pointing us in the same direction toward a common purpose.” President Cheryl Roberts said. “And to help us, we’ve asked several experts in their fields to come alongside the college to help us do even better what we value – supporting our students to be even more successful.”

On campus Tuesday with open-forum presentations were:

• Kathi Swanson, President of Clarus Corporation, a company that specializes in assisting community colleges with a variety of services that help them see their services through students’ eyes. Swanson is working with Shoreline on strategic enrollment management – the process from application to enrollment and then on to completion.
• Courtney Koellner and Kimberly Emrick from iFactory, a Boston-based firm that focuses on website solutions with strong experience in higher education. iFactory is working  on the  redesign for Shoreline’s website.
• Seong Shin, Principal for Interior Design Services at McGranahan Architects of Tacoma. Shin has been helping the college envision the overall campus refresh and on Tuesday, presented ideas for the main student spaces on the second floor in the PUB.

“Clarus is helping us identify where we have opportunities to better serve students and our communities,” Roberts said. “Not only to help more students find their way to us and the education they’re seeking, but also make it easier for students to navigate our processes and stay at Shoreline to fulfill their dreams.”

Swanson continued her presentations to several groups on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

The website is a key tool to make those things happen and the approach iFactory is helping the college take is closely aligned with the work by Clarus. “Together, they can help answer the questions student have about the college and the path before them,” Roberts said.

The overall campus refresh project is an important part of making students feel welcome and also providing an environment that fosters academic success. For the PUB, Shin presented options for a new welcome/information-desk area that could in the area of the large yellow wall near the main, second-floor entrance. She also showed some enhancements for the Quiet Dining Room that could make that room more versatile. And, Shin showed how different flooring and furniture in what is now a carpeted student social space just to the right of the second-floor main entrance could look.

Vice President for Academic and Student Services Bob Francis said he thought the reaction from students and employees was most helpful. “The comments and questions were informative,” Francis said.