The University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ at Boulder is giving a new twist to the old joke about how many people it takes to change a lightbulb – at the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ campus the serious question is how many lightbulbs are there to change?
The answer to that is about to rise significantly with news that the Vice Chancellor for Administration, Paul Tabolt, has approved the budget allocation of $100,000 for new lighting.
And according to Jim Fadenrecht, director of Public Safety, spending could be several times that amount as the university seeks to implement a consultantÂ’s master plan aimed at improving safety and security across the campus.
Fadenrecht said additional funding would be sought from sources such as parking and housing to implement recommendations in the study, which was carried out last year following a number of high-profile incidents.
He said that to do everything in the report might cost as much as $600,000, so its implementation would have to be staged over a period of time as funds become available.
The areas targeted first would be the core campus pedestrian routes – places which needed to be well lit because, for example, there were night-time activities or routes led to housing or halls.
Members of the committee on personal safety have walked after dark in areas identified by the consultant to help prioritize the work needed along pathways, roads and on building facades.
According to Fadenrecht, some existing lighting, which might not be at the right height or intensity, could be replaced or improved but mostly there would be new lights.
Regarding the general maintenance program, Fadenrecht said all poles around the campus carry a number that anyone can quote to report a light not working. The goal is then to renew that bulb within 48 hours.
In addition, a variety of people make regular inspections for outages – facilities management and housing maintenance staff, campus police, security staff and the committee on personal safety -- and there is some move toward a policy of replacing bulbs on a rotational basis just before they die.
Fadenrecht said the university also had invested $300,000 last year to add another 19 emergency telephone stations to the network, which covers the main campus, east campus, Williams Village and the two autoparks.
This brought to 46 the total number of emergency telephones, in which a button triggers a 911 call to the campus police. Fadenrecht said the aim was to coordinate this security measure with the improved lighting.