U. revises security contract

A finalized service contract proposal for a new residential security company will probably be sent out to prospective security firms "within a day," Executive Assistant to the Deputy Vice Provost Carolynne Martin said yesterday. Several administrators have been busy for weeks revising and updating the University's last request for services proposal. In addition to Martin, Executive Vice President Janet Hale, Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum and University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich are among the members of various staff teams charged with creating the improved contract proposal that will hopefully attract the best possible candidates. "There is no more important contract for service at this university than residential security," McCoullum said Tuesday. "We just absolutely have to do this right." McCoullum added that the request for services proposal has been revised to include performance criteria with which the company would have to comply. "It was really important for me, on behalf of the students, to really make sure that detailed performance specifications were incorporated into the request for services," she said. McCoullum also said that members of the staff team have visited other college campuses, talked to security experts and even met with an expert on sleep disorders to amass a set of recommendations which "were all taken into account in writing this contract." Factors which will be considered for each candidate include a proactive attitude toward security, state-of-the-art technology and "personable" guards. McCoullum said McGinn Security Services, with whom the University terminated its contract in late April, received "substantial praise" from students concerning the last factor. While Martin would not say how many firms will receive the updated contract proposal, she did say that the vendor list was compiled "collaboratively" with the Division of Public Safety and the Purchasing Department. "It is a combination of firms that may have been recommended and those that may have indeed made a request to be considered in the open bid process," she added. Administrators have also called for the new security firm to start August 15 instead of the previously suggested June 30, in order to allow more time for a smooth transition. McCoullum added that while the target date of December 31 still remains for the transfer of residential security control from the Office of Residential Living to Hale's office, the University will be "phasing in the transfer" over several months. "[We] wanted to make sure that we didn't have any lapse in security while the new contract was being secured," she said. McGinn's contract was terminated by the University four years prematurely after several reports of guards found asleep on the job during the "graveyard shift" were chronicled in The Daily Pennsylvanian in March.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.