AUCSO to Expand Services Around the Globe

The Association of University Chief Security Officers (AUCSO) has announced plans to expand its reach internationally. The group, based in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, currently counts among its members the security staff of almost 230 institutions of higher education around the world. And the association’s new leadership, including recently appointed Chairman Les Allan and Vice-Chairman Ollie Curran, plan to focus on extending its services and benefits to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.

“The higher education sector is a vitally important global community, one which benefits from cooperation across borders and across continents,” said Allan. “This collaboration must extend to security and safety services, too. AUCSO is already playing a vital role in making this happen, and we will now be building on that work.”

Les Allan
AUCSO Chairman Les Allan

The goal is to spread and share information about the best security and safety practices for students, faculty, and staff at colleges and universities worldwide. To help raise these standards, among other efforts, the new leadership team plans to launch a series of webinars to stream live and archive for members only. The first of these webinars will cover how different international groups handled the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring speakers from Australia, Dublin, and Belgium. The second will focus on counterterrorism and organized crime.

Allan serves as the Director of Safeguarding Services at the five international campuses of Heriot-Watt University. Curran, meanwhile, became a AUCSO board member in April 2020 and works as the Deputy Security Manager for University College London.

“There is little doubt that security teams in our sector have faced significant, unforeseen challenges and have delivered exemplary front-line services to our respective institutions over this past year,” Allan said. “We all need to build on that experience, sharing best practice, to ensure that security continues to become more professional and to evolve at pace to support our institutions. I am particularly delighted to have Oliver Curran as our new Vice-Chairman. Oliver brings a very varied skill set and vast experience to our team. Together with our Executive Committee and our wider membership, we aim to enhance our association for the benefit of all.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning and Campus Security and Life Safety. He can be reached at MJones@1105media.com

Featured

  • Expanding Mobile Access Credentials

    The new academic year is now kicking into high gear at colleges and universities, and on many campuses, students were welcomed this fall with the added convenience and security of mobile access credentials. It is a trend that has become more of an expectation than a surprise in the world of higher education as the demand for advancements in electronic access control (EAC) like mobile credentials continues to grow. Read Now

  • New York School District Selects AtlasIED’s IPX Technology for Modernization Initiative

    The North Syracuse Central School District (NSCSD), a K-12 public school district in Central New York state, serves the communities of North Syracuse, Clay, Cicero, Bridgeport, and Mattydale. With 11 elementary, middle, and high schools, the district covers almost 90 square miles and has 7,792 students and approximately 700 teachers. With some of its school buildings over 60 years old, the district needed to renovate many of them, some more urgently than others. As part of the process, district administrators and staff reevaluated all infrastructure elements and their approach to campus safety, selecting AtlasIED IPX technology to modernize their intercom, audio announcements, and emergency communications systems. Read Now

  • New York Lifts Ban on Biometric Technologies in K-12 Schools

    New York Lifts Ban on Biometric Technologies in K-12 Schools

    On Sept. 27, 2023, New York State Department of Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa issued a determination that lifted the nearly three-year ban on use of biometric technologies in both public and private K-12 schools in effect from December 2020 Read Now

Webinars