Security overhauls hiring procedure

by John Jacobsen

Sweeping changes in the Simpson security department will take effect next year as new hiring procedures will attempt to improve the department’s image and services for students.

“Basically in the past we have always relied on work study students. We were assigned student workers with no set protocol to be a student security worker,” said Chris Frerichs, head of campus security.

A formal application procedure is just one of the changes to help ensure the safety of students on campus in the following years.

Frerichs hopes this new application process will help weed out students who would not normally choose to be security workers on campus.

“Some of the students in the past were not interested in the work or weren’t motivated to do the work,” Frerichs said.

The focus will not be on just filling the position, but finding students who want to make a difference in the security department.

“We hope to get individuals who want to get the experience of what it is like to deal with certain policies. We want to make sure we get the most talented individuals,” said Frerichs.

This new program has already received positive feedback from some students.

“I definitely think it is better that they are interviewing now because you will get people who are actually interested in the job,” said junior Ellie Kinkel-Schuster.

This change in procedure is not a reflection of the current staff that Frerichs oversees. “We have a really good group of individuals now and we want to continue that trend,” Frerichs said.

Stephanie Krauth, associate dean of students, has also been involved in the designing of this new approach for security.

“Stephanie has been involved in the whole process. We have been modeling it along the lines of Resident Assistant training. We’ve really systemized and organized the training,” said Frerichs.

Every applicant will go through a screening process.

“The screening process will include Stephanie, myself, probably one other member of housing and one senior-level security staff member,” Frerichs said.

Security training will now take place at the beginning of the year instead of progressively throughout the semester. The training provided for the new security workers will closely resemble the training that Resident Assistants take at the beginning of the school year.

“In the training we will go over job expectations. One day the Indianola Police will go over some self defense and drug issues. One day will be spent on running the security office and we will bring in a counselor or Craig Peck to add to the training. Then we will do one day of medical training. We will probably go for about 4-5 days worth of training in all,” said Frerichs.

The first training session will not be the end of the security workers’ learning experience. “We have also scheduled monthly staff meetings to discuss what is happening on campus. The main intent is to provide a better service to the students,” said Frerichs.

This new system has hopes of highlighting the good parts of security that most Simpson students overlook.

“We have been working on this for a long time. We want students to realize we do a lot more than just break up parties,” Frerichs said.