Wednesday 22 November 2017
Baroness Ruth Henig has been announced as the new patron of ProtectED, the first ever national accreditation scheme for ensuring the safety, security and wellbeing of university students.
The scheme is the first in
the UK’s higher education sector to comprehensively consider practices across
the areas of student safety, security and wellbeing, and is founded on the
belief that universities have a critical role to play that does not end at
campus boundaries but encompasses the wider student experience.
Almost 50 universities
across the country have so far expressed an interest in signing up and becoming
early adopters of the scheme, which was set up following research by University of Salford academics along with professional
services staff and security experts K7 Compliance
Lady Henig is a historian, political activist, and a
Deputy Speaker in the House of Lords. During her 24 years as a Labour member of
Lancashire County Council, she chaired the Lancashire Community Safety Partnership and served as Chair of the Lancashire Police Authority, later being appointed President of the Association of Police Authorities.
She has been awarded a CBE for services to policing
and served as Chair of the Security Industry
Authority
(SIA) — the organisation responsible for regulating and licensing the private
security industry in the UK.
Andrew Wootton, ProtectED
Director said: “It’s a real pleasure be able to welcome Baroness
Henig as our new ProtectED Patron. Her insight and considerable experience
improving standards of practice in the UK will make a significant contribution
to the success of ProtectED."
Baroness Henig said: “ProtectED brings together a number of issues that I have long been
passionate about —
ensuring a safe experience for university students; high quality security
services; and taking a partnership approach to safety in the higher education
sector.
“The
ProtectED Code of Practice offers, for the first time, a student safety,
security and wellbeing standard for universities to aspire to, and a practical,
robust method of assessing and raising standards across the sector.”
The ProtectED
Code of Practice addresses student safety security and wellbeing
across domains including Core
Institutional Safety & Security; Student Wellbeing & Mental Health;
International Students; Student Harassment & Sexual Assault; and the
Student Night Out.
Universities seeking ProtectED Accreditation benchmark themselves against the
requirements outlined in the Code of Practice, before submitting their
application.
Assessment is overseen by a Peer Review Panel, with follow-up
verification visit by trained, independent ProtectED
Assessors, and student assessors. Successful universities are awarded ProtectED Accredited Institution status — a clear indicator to prospective
and current students, their parents and loved ones that the institution takes
student welfare seriously.
Development of
the ProtectED Code of Practice and
accreditation scheme has been supported by organisations in the areas of
security and student wellbeing in the higher education (HE) sector.
The ProtectED Advisory Board includes
representatives from: the Association of University Chief Security Officers
(AUCSO); the Security Industry Authority (SIA); the National Union of Students
(NUS); British Council; the Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher
Education (AMOSSHE); Universities UK; Police Association of Higher Education
Liaison Officers (PAHELO); Endsleigh Insurance; the National Landlords
Association (NLA); the College and University Business Officers (CUBO); the
International Professional Security Association (IPSA); and the British
Security Industry Association (BSIA).
ProtectED is now seeking to recruit 12 universities to become official ProtectED
Founder Member institutions, leading action on student safety, security and
wellbeing in the HE sector by example, and committing to support the principles and goals of ProtectED.
Further information on ProtectED can be found at www.protect-ed.org