July/August, Vol. 3, Issue 10
From the SVP’s Desk
As we embark on a new academic year, I want to take a moment to thank our team for a smooth, coordinated move-in experience. Without your commitment to our core values, and your willingness to help during one of our busiest times of the year, we would not have been able to achieve such a successful outcome. Moving forward, I want to specifically focus on our commitment to excellence. As public safety professionals, we have a special duty to provide our community with excellent service. As students, faculty, and staff, arrive at NYU for the first time or return to campus, things may be new to them. They’ll need assistance navigating the campus as they settle in to a daily routine, and they’ll undoubtedly look to us as a steady hand and source of dependable information. I encourage all of us to be mindful not just of helping others, but how we help. Be a friendly face. Go the extra mile. Offer additional information if it seems appropriate, and be proactive. Whether that’s helping with directions or providing helpful reminders, such as not leaving your belongings unattended, it will be much appreciated. I look forward to working with you to make our community’s summer-to-school transition as smooth as possible, and to provide excellent service for our community throughout the fall semester.
New Faces at DPS Leslie Fluger, Open Source Analyst, joins us after working as an All Source Intelligence Analyst with the United States Army, where she was responsible for disseminating tactical and operational intelligence to a variety of federal, state, and local agencies. She also advised senior military decision makers and intelligence officials on matters pertaining to security and personnel risk mitigation measures. Leslie’s workstation will be in the Global Security Operations Center on the first floor of 7 Washington Place.
DPS Presents Annual Awards at Ceremony NYU’s Department of Public Safety presented its annual awards for excellence and achievement in front of more than 100 attendees at the Grand Hall inside the Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life on Thursday, June 20. “This is a great time of year,” said Senior Vice President, Campus Services and Safety Marlon Lynch. “We definitely always want to take the time to recognize excellent performance. By the nature of the public safety function, we rarely have time to stop all together as a team, and recognize those achievements in the moment, because we’re 24/7. We’re always working.” Lynch also recognized University and community partners for their support in improving Public Safety’s service to the community. “It’s great to be able to include our partners in this celebration, both internally from across departments at NYU, and our external community partners outside the University.” NYU Executive Vice President Martin Dorph thanked the Public Safety team for providing a positive experience for students and their families as they visit and attend NYU. “You, the public safety officers, are the first people anyone who comes on campus meets,” said Dorph. “You are, in many cases, the first impression of NYU, and we know how important first impressions are. It’s always a pleasure to hear from students and their parents about their appreciation for the reception that is given by our public safety officers. It’s so important, especially in attracting students to come to NYU, that our public safety team reassures them they’ll be safe while they’re here.” Dorph also praised the advancements in improving safety across NYU’s global network, specifically in emergency preparedness, communications, and security technology. “Thank you for all you do in helping keep the University and its community safe,” said Dorph. “This is a great opportunity to recognize you all today.” To read the rest of this article, please visit our website. 2019 Annual Awards Recipients Inclusivity Ambassador Award: Shanelle Pendergrass Innovation Achievement Award: William Karnadi (middle, right) Community Member Commendation: Ivan Almendarez, Collins Building Services Commendation Medal: PSO Dennis Kroner Meritorious Service Medal: PSO John Intile, PSO Raymond Intriago, Sergeant Michael Siatsis (below, left) Law Enforcement Commendation: NYPD Assistant Chief Kim Y. Royster, NYPD Police Officer Brian Garcia, NYPD Police Officer Annalee Simon (below, right) Sergeant of the Year: Gizelle Sanchez (top, right) Public Safety Officer of the Year: Philip Vastano III Partner of the Year: Justin Szypot, NYU Procurement Team of the Year: NYU Public Safety Community Response Unit (SFC Brian Doss, SFC Angel Irizarry, SFC Paolo Lappe, SFC Flora Ortiz, SFC Karl Whyte) (below, center)
DPS Launches You Matter! Podcast This August, the New York University Department of Public Safety launched You Matter!, a podcast that informs the NYU community about resources that are available to victims, both on and off campus, and to give first-hand experiences of victims and those in the community who assist them. “I’m excited about the opportunity to use this podcast platform to create additional awareness about victim resources that are available to University community members, not only at NYU, but in New York City, as well,” said Karen Ortman, Assistant Vice President, Field Operations at NYU’s Department of Public Safety, and host of You Matter! A retired law enforcement professional, Ortman has been at NYU for five years, coordinating field operations, investigations, and special victims services within the Department of Public Safety. As part of her role, she meets with victims of incidents and assists them in obtaining resources and assistance from NYU offices and local law enforcement. Joining Ortman behind the microphone is Sabah Fatima, a current graduate student at NYU’s College of Global Public Health, and a candidate for a Masters in Public Health. “Being a part of the podcast has taught me about existing resources within New York City that benefit the NYU community,” said Fatima. “Before working on this podcast, I was unaware of all of the help that is out there. Now I am learning and can’t wait to share all of the resources with my peers, and with the community.” The rest of this article and the links to listen to the You Matter! podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify, are available on our website.
DPS Holds Third Annual Public Safety Summit NYU Paris hosted the third annual NYU Public Safety Summit in July, bringing together public safety leaders from NYU campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi and Shanghai to understand best practices, align strategies and tour the NYU Paris facilities. Meetings included updates on strategic initiatives, finding common ground on where efficiencies and similar service delivery could be created across the all public safety entities, and understanding the next steps to creating a cohesive public safety experience for NYU students as they navigate NYU’s global footprint. Summit locations are chosen based on the frequency with which students from NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai visit the other NYU study away sites during their time abroad. Next year’s summit will be held in Washington, D.C.
Transportation Services Featured in IACLEA Magazine Editor’s Note: This article was featured in the August 2019 print edition of the IACLEA magazine. As governments, institutions, and the world’s citizens become more attuned to the changes in the Earth’s climate, a push to become more sustainable and efficient is palpable throughout many economic sectors. These efforts are magnified in higher education and public safety, and specifically transportation, where students and employees are supporting causes and those who lead them, intended to create a better environment for future generations. Greg Rivas, Assistant Director of Transportation Services at IACLEA member institution New York University, is charged with creating and implementing plans to improve NYU’s efficiency and sustainability both for public safety vehicles and throughout the transportation options that NYU provides to its community. Tell us about your position and how you operate within the university. I am the Assistant Director of Transportation Services within Campus Services and Safety at New York University. I oversee the university’s transportation offerings, which include seven fixed routes operating throughout the academic year, Safe Ride overnight service, airport shuttle service, charter services, and fleet management. Through our fixed route and Safe Ride services, we link our various residence halls and academic facilities in Brooklyn and Manhattan, connecting a non-traditional campus that spans various neighborhoods in two city boroughs. What is your biggest challenge in operating NYU’s Transportation Services? Our biggest challenge is being able to provide services to the greatest number of community members possible. We serve more than 54,000 students and 35,000 full-time employees, including NYU Langone Medical Center, and have only so many buses. We are creative in how we assign buses to routes, modifying those routes depending on the time of day. For example, in the morning period, all of the buses assigned to one of our northern routes perform “half trips,” where they arrive empty to one of the largest residence halls and begin their journey from there. This allows us to squeeze in a few more trips each morning. What types of technology do you use to create efficiencies? We use several different technologies across our service offerings. All of our shuttle buses are equipped with a real-time passenger information system. This allows us to collect data on ridership and route performance and utilize this information to adjust our schedules and offerings to both meet the needs of the community and increase reliability. Additionally, the system provides users with route tracking capabilities and access to service notifications, such as delays and changes. Our Safe Ride service - structured much like consumer rideshare services and offering point-to-point rides after regular shuttle bus hours between campus facilities - uses software that automatically manages ride requests. This software captures several data points, such as vehicles on the road, vehicle loads, and rider destinations, to assign ride requests in the most efficient manner possible. On the passenger side, users receive estimated wait times and notifications when they are to be picked up. Our Public Safety fleet is equipped with GPS tracking systems that provide our dispatchers with real-time locations of all vehicles. The tracking system transmits vehicle health information to the Transportation Services Unit, such as fuel levels and engine status. On the backend, our unit uses fleet management software to track vehicle expenditures and performance, allowing us to understand the cost per mile of our vehicles, and service reminders. Can you tell us about recent successes with the services? Utilizing the technologies I mentioned earlier, we have seen a continuous increase in ridership on our campus shuttles. During the 2018–19 academic year, we transported more than 520,000 passengers. With our Safe Ride program, we have seen a 50-percent increase in passengers since the adoption of on-demand software. On the fleet side, we recently introduced the University’s first hybrid 15-passenger van and have been able to reduce our out-of-service days through a robust preventative maintenance schedule. To read the rest of this article, please visit the IACLEA website. To learn more about NYU Transportation services, visit nyu.edu/ride.
Campus Services Launches NYU Eats NYU students, faculty, and administrators will be able to access a wide array of new dining options with the recent launch of NYU’s campus-wide dining service, NYU Eats. In addition to providing 120,000 meals per week to the NYU community, NYU Eats will introduce expanded sustainable food options, affordable meal deals, and food-related pop-ups and educational offerings. The creation of NYU Eats marks the official launch of NYU dining services with new catering provider, Chartwells. Chartwells was selected after an extensive process conducted by a committee comprised of students, faculty, and administrators during the 2018-2019 academic year. “Thanks to the high degree of community involvement from the outset – from the selection process, right through this summer’s soft-launch – NYU Eats is hitting the ground running this academic year with offerings that are a fantastic reflection of NYU’s dining priorities,” said Owen Moore, Assistant Vice President for Campus Services. “We’re excited to introduce innovations like the new farmer’s market and flexible dining deals while continuing to provide the popular features – from Starbucks to fresh made sushi – that NYU diners have come to know and love. And happily, we were able to ensure that our dining hall staff will continue in their roles under the new management.” Along with a variety of meal options, encompassing vegan, kosher, Halal, and allergen-free food items, at dining halls in Manhattan and Brooklyn, NYU Eats will introduce the following enhanced services, based on priorities highlighted by the dining contract search committee: sustainability, affordability and education. For more information about NYU Eats, please visit nyueats.com or follow @nyu.eats on Instagram.
Get Involved: Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation Debuts ‘The Momentum Initiative’ The Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation has launched The Momentum Initiative - a pilot, cohort-based mentoring program for undergraduate students, that aims to increase the sense of belonging and inclusion for men of color at NYU. According to their announcement, mentoring programs dedicated to the support of men of color students have proven to guide students through obstacles and barriers they face during their transition from high school to college, adjusting to campus climate, and gaining the networks and opportunities necessary to thrive and succeed in an academic and social collegiate environment. For staff and administrators, there are two ways to get involved: 1. Apply to be a staff/administrator/faculty mentor! You can apply to be a mentor at the following link: bit.ly/momentum19sf 2. Reach out to express interest in volunteering and to see what other ways you can get involved by contacting globalinclusion@nyu.edu. Momentum will hold several events throughout the year where we will be looking for staff, administrators, and faculty who can support or participate (for example, workshops on specific topics). The deadline to apply for participation is Sunday, September 22, at 11 p.m.
SVP Lynch Participates in Parents of Students of Color Panel Senior Vice President Marlon Lynch participated on a panel of students and administrators to answer questions regarding the first-year student experience with parents of students of color on Welcome Day. Led by Associate Associate Vice President for Global Student Engagement & Inclusive Leadership Monroe France, the panel included NYU staff and students from a wide range of disciplines, offering information on the inclusiveness of NYU, and the commitment to enhanced campus quality of life. Speaking on behalf of Campus Services and Safety, Lynch named the myriad of service offerings that fall under the Department’s umbrella, noting that the services are there for all students. The panel also included a welcome from President Andy Hamilton and featured student experiences, particularly related to study abroad and student affairs.
DPS Captains Provide Helpful Tips at Orientation Events Captains Tommy Schindler (at right) and Ronnie West participated in a panel discussion during the NYU Opportunities Programs Luncheons in July. The goal of this discussion was for our students to understand what living on campus and commuting to campus is like and what services Public Safety provides to enhance students’ safety while at NYU. Captains Schindler and West fielded questions along with colleagues from the Office of Residential Life and Housing Services and the Center for Student Life. “We discussed transportation, specifically Safe Ride and bus schedules,” said Captain West. “Many questions were geared towards safety and when to call 911 and/or public safety, how much authority Public Safety does or does not have, and what the sign-in policy is at residence halls.” This was the first opportunity for Public Safety to appear as part of the panel discussions held both in Washington Square and Brooklyn.
DPS Presents Social Media Successes at EduWeb Conference Communications Manager Matt Shelosky presented “Improving Campus Community Safety through Social Media” to an audience of more than 40 communications professionals at the EduWeb Conference in Philadelphia this July. Shelosky explained how the DPS social media platforms were created, detailing several campaigns that were geared toward improving the safety of community members. He also gave results of those campaigns and explained how attendees could also create similar successes at their institutions. “The opportunity to present to higher education colleagues from across the country on a topic that I’m passionate about was transformative,” said Shelosky. “How we’re utilizing social media as a tool to improve the campus experience for our community has shown to be innovative, and effective.” Shelosky cited a reduction in preventable incidents and service complaints as two ways that NYU Public Safety has elevated its brand recognition and perception. Shelosky attended presentations given by other communications professionals, which included topics such as involving students in social media, understanding how incoming students are getting and retaining information, and how technology can improve websites and social media platforms.
July / August News and Notes The following members of DPS were assigned to new roles since the last newsletter: Jessica Coleman, to Director, Records and Compliance … DPS recycled 19 pounds of Keurig cups through NYU’s Grounds To Grow On program during the month of August.
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