Analysis paper: Temple University - Essay Example

?Analysis Paper Table of Contents 0 Introduction 3 2.0 About the Problem 4 3.0 Problem Solution 7 4.0 Conclusion 9 References 10 0 Introduction The Temple University was set up in the year 1884 in Philadelphia with the sole intention to satisfy the growing need of education in the country. In its journey of over 125 years, Temple University came across various development opportunities and challenges (Temple University, n.d.). Undoubtedly, its growth was subjected to the educational culture of the campus and satisfaction of the rapidly increasing number of students from both the national and international regions (Lovik, 2005). As the institute offers a widely diversified educational environment with students belonging from all around the world, it became necessary for the institute to consider various ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds. In order to gain efficiency in these aspects the authority of the university introduced various developmental strategies with due consideration to the safety of the stakeholders including students within the campus (Temple University, 2010). The paper will thereby focus on the crime rate of the university in its main campus and concentrate on the issues faced by the stakeholders as well as the students of the university because of these occurrences. Furthermore, the discussion of the paper will intend to critically evaluate the strategies adopted by the university regarding the crime rate and thus provide a few suggestions based on this context. 2.0 About the Problem The Financial Times rated the Temple University to be among the top 50 business schools in the world. It is an USA based international educational institute providing not only business education, but diversified programs in various other professional courses such as medicine (The Financial Times Ltd, 2010). Being a large international university with widely diversified education system, it attracts students from various cultures and ethnic groups that in turn increase the risk of conflict within the campus. Moreover, the main campus of Temple University spans over 333 acres with almost 178 buildings providing services to the community for 24 hours, 7 days in a week (Temple University, 2010). All these facts contribute to the assumption that the university will have to face various issues related to criminology within the campus area such as theft, burglary, sexual assault, and even murder. According to the updated 2010 annual security report published by the university, most of the crime occurrences were recorded in the main campus of Philadelphia. For instance, 17 cases of burglary were recorded on campus, two of such cases occurred in the non-campus area and seven in the residential hall area in 2009, which were significantly lesser than the previous years. On the contrary, the frequency of theft increased considerably on-campus (301), non-campus (22), public area (173) and residential hall area (60) in 2009. The cases of fraud, vandalism, simple assault and disorderly conduct have also increased to a significant extent. Notably, the rate of sexual assaults and ethnicity hate crimes were also recorded in 2009 in comparison to no such occurrences in the previous two years which can be apparently observed from the chart represented below (Temple University, 2010). Fig. 1.1 Crime Rate for Consecutive Three Years in Temple University (Temple University, 2010) It is worthy to be mentioned that the university has adopted various measures with the purpose of eradicating these issues. For example, the authority focuses on continuous patrolling of campus security police all around the main campus area along with security kiosks. The authority of the university also considers involvement of sophisticated technologies in the security system of the campus. In addition, the university signifies specific policies to control the occurrences of these crimes along with special campaigns to generate awareness among the stakeholders regarding the consequences and prevention of such offences (Temple University, 2010). Therefore, it can be apparently observed that the university emphasizes on a complete full – proof system of security in its main campus. However, there are a few limitations of the system that in turn is permitting the increase in the crime rates within the campus. It is in this context that the university should consider strict measures to eradicate the limitations to a possible extent. 3.0 Problem Solution One limitation that can be observed in the security systems of the university is the frequency of annual test held to evaluate the efficiency of the security services rendered to its stakeholders. According to the report, the university executes these tests once in a year which in turn causes a significant gap in the evaluation process and thus hampers the efficiency of the system. In this regard, the experts state that auditing of Human Resource (HR) related services such as the security services of the university should be conducted frequently on a quarterly basis or half-yearly basis with an intention to enhance the efficiency of the security system or other HR services (Olalla & Castillo, 2002). Considering the fact, it can be stated that executing the evaluation tests on a quarterly basis shall be highly beneficial in enhancing the efficiency of security system structured in the main campus of Temple University. To be precise, in total four such tests should be organized among which two tests can be unannounced and the later two can be organized after formal announcement. Furthermore, the university’s security system focuses substantially on the involvement of technology due to which the authority should adopt extra measures with the intention to develop skills of the security forces as well as the stakeholders so as to communicate with the security department. The university provides significant consideration to the development of awareness among the stakeholders, regarding their responsibilities towards the culture, heritage and safety of the community. However, the system neglects the recognition of stakeholders’ perception in relation to the security measures executed in the campus. This can be identified as a major limitation of the security system. With the purpose of eradicating this limitation the university should intend to obtain feedbacks from the stakeholders. Obtaining feedbacks from the stakeholders on a periodical basis shall not only assist the authority to identify the limitations of the policies but also assist in recognizing further requirements of the stakeholders (Phillips, 1996). 4.0 Conclusion Temple University implements a well-structured and organized system to face challenges in terms of securities and safety of the stakeholders within the main campus. However, it lacks in providing the security services to the community with higher level of efficiency and thus has to experience increasing crime rates within the campus area. As can be observed from the above discussion, the limitations of the security system in the university relates to the continuous development of the system rather than the structuring or execution of the system. Therefore, it can be stated that only framing HR policies and executing the policies formally are not sufficient until it is evaluated and improved periodically. References Lovik, E. G., (2005). Temple: The Story of an Urban University. The Pennsylvania State University. Olalla, M. F. & Castillo, M. A. S., (2002). Human Resources Audit. Universidad Complutense de Madrid-Spain, Vol: 8, pp. 58-64. Phillips, J. J., (1996). Accountability in Human Resource Management. Gulf Professional Publishing. Temple University, (2010). 2010 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. Campus Safety. Retrieved Online on June 29, 2011 http://css.ocis.temple.edu/about_us/CampusSafety.pdf Temple University, (No Date). History. Temple 125 Years. Retrieved Online on June 29, 2011 from http://www.temple125years.com/history.php The Financial Times Ltd, (2010). Business Education. Highlights. Retrieved Online on June 29, 2011 from http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/temple-university-fox Read More