MUNCIE, Ind.- Ball State University has concluded a comprehensive program review of its Department of Public Safety, and administrators say a report produced by two outside consultants provides strong recommendations the university will use to improve the department.

Consultants Rex Rakow, director of security police at the University of Notre Dame, and Susan Riseling, chief of police at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, visited the campus in May and submitted a 47-page report to the university last month. The consultants made 108 recommendations for improving the public safety department.

"This completes an intensive, thorough and nearly yearlong review of the Department of Public Safety," said Blaine A. Brownell, university president.

"From the Indiana State Police investigation, to the advisory group that reviewed the state police report and now to this consultants' report, we have taken measures to ensure that people independent of the university with expertise in law enforcement would consider the issues affecting the department and give us guidance on how to make this one of the finest campus safety departments in the country," Brownell said.

An ad hoc university committee has spent the past month reviewing the consultants' report and has prioritized the recommendations. The committee grouped the bulk of the recommendations into two categories: those that should be reviewed by the university's administration, and those that should be undertaken once the university hires a permanent public safety director. The committee also noted that Gene

Burton, acting director of public safety, had initiated action on a number of the recommended changes before the report was issued.

"What the consultants reported is that we have a dedicated, well-educated and capable department of public safety, along with a campus community that feels safe and that has confidence in the ability of our public safety employees to handle the calls they receive," said Randy Hyman, associate vice president for student services and dean of students.

"The consultants also highlighted areas for improvement, giving us a good road map for making changes, and we agree with their advice that a permanent director should lead the department through the most significant changes," he said.

A national search for a permanent director is underway.

"This is a demarcation point, from review to reform," Brownell said. "When we undertook this effort, I said we would not make changes for the sake of change or rush to judgment because of the scrutiny the department was experiencing, and I believe we have been true to our word."

"We have already taken several steps to set the department on the right course, and the members of the department have responded by acting in a manner that is above criticism," he said. "We are excited about the future of this department and, with the guidance provided by the consultants' report, confident that the department can achieve the aspirations we have set for it."

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on this story or copies of the consultants' report and ad hoc committee's report, contact Glenn Augustine, associate director of university relations, at (765) 285-1560, after hours at (765) 748-4822 or at ggaugustine@bsu.edu.)