This image from the ALICE Training Institute website highlights its training programs for higher education.
This summer, MCCC partnered with the Michigan State Police to train full-time faculty and staff on what to do if there is a shooter on campus.
The Alert Lockdown Inform Counter and Evacuate (ALICE) training provided classroom education as well as real life scenarios to equip MCCC faculty and staff for a school shooting.
Randy Daniels, vice president of Student and Information Systems, said MCCC trained about 160 employees and plans to continue training part-timers.
The training was an intense three-hour session that began with a classroom lecture.
For two hours, Sgt. Rodney Goss of the Michigan State Police taught MCCC employees how to assess a shooter situation and decide whether to run, fight, or barricade.
Then for an hour they participated in two rounds of staged shooting scenarios.
In the first round, participants could only barricade themselves in the room. The second time around, members could run, fight or barricade.
Daniels said he was happy with the outcome of the training.
“I thought the ALICE training went very well. I think it was well received by the full-time faculty and staff. The feedback I heard was very positive,” he said.
Wendy Wysocki, a professor of Business and Economics, said the training was a great opportunity to practice and see what it would be like.
Wysocki said it was a start, but no one can really be prepared for a situation like a school shooting.
This is not the last training that will take place at MCCC.
Daniels said he would eventually like to see a live drill take place.
He wants the entire county and community involved in the drill.
It would take time to organize the police, EMS, faculty and students, but he said he wants to move in that direction.
Daniels said the college has been working to improve safety for several years and will always be focused on campus security.
Some of the safety improvements could be in effect rather quickly, he said.
Wysocki mentioned the safety precautions that need to be implemented in the classrooms.
“I think we need to do some work on the door locks. In the training there was some other options like barricading the door. The officer talked about exit and entries through windows,” she said.
She noted that MCCC classrooms do not really provide professors and students the equipment to take these precautions.
Wysocki also talked about the college’s lack of communication throughout the campus.
She suggested implementing some form of communication throughout the campus, such as an alarm system or phones in the classrooms.
Student Alexander Simone said the college is a very open campus which is inviting to a shooter who is looking for a target.
He thought that MCCC should have more security officers around the campus to watch for suspicious activity in the area.
Daniels said MCCC has taken some steps to train students.
“A few years back, after the Virginia Tech incident, we bought a DVD called “Shots Fired,” which is very similar to what the ALICE training is,” he said.
He said the MCCC website has a section on safety and security, which has links to the “Shots Fired” video and other resources.
Daniels said it is nearly impossible to provide the ALICE training to the 3,000-plus students who attend MCCC.
He said the college’s annual security report, posters in classrooms, and the website are all ways the college is providing students with the information they need to stay safe.
Student Chelsea Belair said she had no idea about any online sites MCCC is using to equip students for school shootings.
“I think everyone should know about that and have a plan,” she said.
She said MCCC should raise awareness and educate everyone in preparation for a shooting. She admitted that many students, including herself, would not take the time to watch a series of videos on school shootings because they do not think it will happen at MCCC.
Simone thought MCCC should have drills that take the time to walk students through the best way to handle shootings on the campus.
