Chief intro'd the group.  Camous Safety, Technology and CPM. 

Campus Operations Report

M. Cloutier presented updates from the University Police Department (UPD) on staffing, infrastructure modernization, and community preparedness.

Personnel and Staffing

• Staffing Challenges: Frontline patrol positions are operating at roughly 75% strength, with four vacant patrolman positions. To maintain 24/7 coverage, the department relies heavily on mandatory and voluntary overtime, which is fiscally and environmentally unsustainable. The department will not lower standards to fill positions.
• New Additions:
  • Officer Barry Doucette joined in January and is now on full duty.
  • Sergeant Douglas Costa joined the department as the new operations sergeant.

Infrastructure Modernization

• Body-Worn Cameras: The department is pursuing a Department of Justice grant that would cover 50% of the five-year, $70,000 projected expense for 21 body-worn cameras. An update on the application is expected in September.
• Vehicle Fleet: A comprehensive proposal is being developed with a nationwide vendor to replace and repair an aging fleet of 27 vehicles; approximately two-thirds need repair or replacement. The goal is to transition to a structured fleet management model for employee safety and a sustainable long-term replacement cycle.

Community Partnerships and Preparedness

• City Partnership: The partnership with the city of Fitchburg is stronger than ever, highlighted by a well-attended, live-streamed joint community presentation with City Chief Steven Gianini.
• Family Reunification Plan: UPD is collaborating with the public schools, fire, police, and emergency management agency to develop a family reunification plan. The Wallace Civic Center and Landry Arena have been designated as the primary secure reunification site. Phase one training is complete, with a tabletop exercise scheduled next.
• Active Attack Integrated Response (AIR): A high-level, two-day AIR course will be hosted in August to unify the response from police, fire, and EMS agencies to active threats.

Matt Lechter provided updates on campus restoration, capital projects, dining services, and shuttle management.

Winter Operations and Campus Restoration

• The maintainer team responded to seven off-hour weekend snow events. Challenges were noted regarding aging equipment, with some machinery nearing 25 years old.
• Efforts are now focused on campus restoration and beautification, including repairs to parking areas, fencing, and landscaping impacted by the winter season.

Capital Project Initiatives

• The Capital Planning and Management (CPM) team has secured 14 Notice to Proceeds totaling over $6 million in funding through a partnership with DCAMM’s critical repairs program.
• Current and Upcoming Projects:
  • Campus-wide lock replacement and sidewalk repairs are scheduled for the next two months.
  • Conlan Hall Network Center AC replacement is underway and expected to be completed in April.
  • The Conlan Window project will resume after commencement and be completed in June.
  • A transformer swap was completed during spring break, which brought the Rec Center solar array online and will enable the first fast EV chargers in Fitchburg in two to three weeks.
• Conlan Communications Media Project: This is the most significant initiative, currently in the award phase with an estimated construction cost of $4.5 million. Nine companies submitted bids, with seven under the proposed budget. 

Dining and Shuttle Services

• Dining Services (Chartwells): A short-term agreement extension was reached with Chartwells. Chartwells invested funds into front-of-house furniture and carpet upgrades and critical back-of-house needs (e.g., refrigeration) at no cost to the university.
  • A new menu system is planned for the summer.
  • A new Compliance Mate temperature monitoring system has been implemented for digital food safety tracking.
  • An "order ahead" option for meal plan users (omelets, customized burgers) has been launched.
  • The "happy or not" satisfaction score has increased by 4% year-to-date.
• Shuttle Service (MART): Discussions have begun with MART to explore expanding the route to the McKay Complex. Evaluation of overall route management is ongoing to increase shuttle frequency. A regular, timed route between Mount Wachusett and Fitchburg State is also being discussed.

Q&A on Vehicle Fleet Priority

• Michael Fiorentino asked for the highest priorities for vehicle replacement.
• M. Cloutier confirmed that the highest priority is the emergency response vehicles (frontline cruisers) for the UPD.
• The overall strategy is to move from a "break and replace" model to a strategic, long-term investment by purchasing directly from manufacturers and offloading vehicles after about five years to retain maximum value.
• The cabinet recently took two of the three university vans out of service due to safety concerns.

Stefan Dodd presented updates on Digital Accessibility and Cybersecurity.

Digital Accessibility

• The university is aligning with the Department of Justice Title 2 regulations and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); the federal mandate deadline is April of this year.
• This is a campus-wide collaborative effort, resulting in the launch of training programs and the expansion of the digital accessibility resource hub.
• Web Compliance: The mobile website is 96% compliant and the main website is 92% compliant.
• The university is implementing Blackboard Ally to help faculty identify materials that need attention and provide alternative formats to students.
• Remediating legacy PDFs and forms will be a multi-year effort.

Cybersecurity

• The threat landscape is intensifying, marked by increased fishing, social engineering, and software vulnerabilities.
• Increased Risks:
  • Student-Focused Scams: Fake job scams are compromising student accounts to distribute fraudulent messages.
  • Admissions Fraud: There is an increase in "ghost student" activity, with over 60 fraudulent applications flagged for review.
• Strategic Moves: The university is evaluating managed security operations center (SOC) and managed detection and response (MDR) solutions to strengthen centralized monitoring, improve visibility, and ensure 24/7 coverage.
• Readiness: A grant was awarded to support incident response tabletop exercises to test the incident response plan and improve campus-wide coordination.