UM Regents OK New Security Restructuring
The University of Michigan has released results of an external investigation into a 2011 incident involving child pornography allegedly viewed on a UM health system computer. Regents had initially voted to start the investigation eight months ago. The consultants report was released late Friday afternoon at the regents’ Oct. 18, 2012 meeting on the Flint campus. [.pdf of report by Margolis Healy] [.pdf of Oct. 18 memo from regents]
At that same meeting, regents unanimously approved creation of a new Division of Public Safety and Security, which will consolidate security units across campus, including the Dept. of Public Safety (DPS), the UM health system’s security services, housing security, and the office of emergency preparedness, among others. A national search will begin for an executive director of the new division, who will report directly to UM president Mary Sue Coleman. DPS chief Joe Piersante will serve as interim executive director.
The changes announced on Friday were prompted by the six-month lag between the time the incident was initially reported in May of 2011, and action taken by university officials to investigate. A former medical resident, Stephen Jenson, was arrested in mid-December of 2011. He is being tried in federal court on charges of possessing child pornography.
The university administration had issued its own report on an internal audit in early February 2012, with recommendations to improve security and communications. [.pdf of UM internal report] But regents felt more needed to be done, and at their Feb. 16 meeting asked UM president Mary Sue Coleman to work with regent Denise Ilitch, who chaired the board at that time, to make recommendations for outside consultants who could be hired to carry out an additional investigation. That investigation was handled by the law firm Latham & Watkins and Margolis Healy & Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in safety and security issues for educational institutions.
At the start of the Oct. 18 meeting, board chair Larry Deitch read a statement on behalf of all regents that highlighted results of the external investigation, and summarized measures that the university was taking in response to the situation. He said there was a clear failure among UM staff to report the incident in a timely way, and that failure was “categorically unacceptable.” Certain personnel in the health system and general counsel’s office inappropriately investigated the incident without informing DPS and concluded there was not sufficient evidence to pursue the concerns, which Deitch characterized as unacceptable. Those people are no longer employees, he said.
Deitch noted that communications between DPS and the UM health system security were “broken and beyond repair.” The new unified security division is intended to address that concern.
In addition to creating the new division, other measures include development of a unified practice guide related to security. Also, a safety and security steering committee, which formed earlier this year to work on this issue, will continue its work – regents instructed the committee to report its progress to the board no later than January 2013.
The university has set up a website with documents related to this incident and UM’s response, including information released at the Oct. 18 meeting.
Deitch acknowledged institutional responsibility for UM’s response to the child porn incident, and expressed gratitude to the UM physician who originally alerted officials about it. The university relies on people stepping up and doing the right thing, he said, and they must be “fiercely vigilant” regarding campus security.
Aside from Deitch’s statement and comments from Coleman, there was no discussion among regents about the report or the university’s response.
This report was file from the UM-Flint campus, where the regents held their Oct. 18 meeting.