By Mackenzie Clark
College administrators are drafting a new policy which may break animal lovers’ hearts.
If the Board of Trustees approves a policy currently in the works, animals outside of those used for service or school-related reasons will not be allowed in campus buildings.
“We have had a few calls of dogs being brought on campus and in the classroom, in the hallways,” said Larry Dixon, deputy chief, Campus Police. “So our legal counsel developed a policy with cooperation from us.”
The policy stems from concern for safety of those on campus.
“With an animal, you never know,” Dixon said. “When they’re in a classroom or when they’re even walking down the hallway, you never know what an animal might do and we have to look out for the safety of all students, staff and personnel.”
Dennis Day, vice president, Student Success and Engagement, cited an incident when a dog brought to campus for “no real purpose” became angry and Campus Police needed to intervene. However, there was no policy in place stating animals were not allowed.
“The officers said, ‘Look, we don’t have anything to back us up when we tell people that they need to take their animals off campus because there’s no real policy or procedure,’” Day said. “[…] It kind of evolved from there that we should have a policy that allows certain animals on campus to provide service to their owners if they are truly a service animal.”
The policy in its current draft defines service animals as “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability” and complies with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also allows animals used for “authorized research projects or experiments” or as “part of an academic program.”
The policy does stipulate, however, that animals that are properly vaccinated, under control and attended by their owners are allowed on campus grounds. Owners are held responsible for any necessary “clean-up.”
Dixon said if a situation with any animal were to become a threat to the campus community, Campus Police would call the Overland Park Police Department’s Animal Control unit.
Tanya Wilson, general counsel, said the policy is scheduled for review by subcommittees of the Board of Trustees in December or January and will likely go to the full Board for approval in January or February.
The full text of the policy draft in its current form is here.
Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.