Your Guide to Campus Safety
On This Page:
Keeping You Safe on Campus
We have numerous personal safety devices on the campus for your safety, including CCTV cameras and emergency phones/poles, to assist you.
Safety Tips for you
- Download the SafeGryphon App for personal safety
- You can call CSO from the app
- Call us when you need us 519-840-5000. If you’re unsure, just call!
- See Something, Say Something. Report suspicious activities
- Walking at night,
- Make use of the SafeWalk program for after hours escorts.
- Use FriendWalk in the SafeGryphon app
- When you're out walking late at night, tell a friend
- Report any Lost or Stolen Property immediately to CSO
Resources:
Residence Safety
The University of Guelph has 16 residence communities that house approximately 5,000 students. Most residence students are in their first year of their undergraduate degree and are away from home for the first time.
The Officer in Residence Program, established in 2009, has contributed to the strong partnership between the CSO and Student Housing Services (SHS). Officers actively patrol residences and offer assistance and support to Residence Life Staff (RLS) and students. This helps build a positive relationship with students and staff alike and creates a more friendly and trusting environment.
Each residence has multiple proactive measures in place to increase security, including card access, and alarms and video monitoring systems at perimeter doors. RLS conduct internal rounds each night to ensure the Residence Community Living Standards are abided by, address behavioural and conduct concerns, and to support residents. RLS work closely with the CSO to keep each other informed about activities happening in residence.
Across campus there are four residence desks. These desks are staffed by members of SHS who provide support for lockouts, maintenance issues, and more. Desk staff and RLS work together to provide guest registration desks at key entrances to buildings during busy times of the year. This aids in the entry and registration of student guests.
Your Campus Card and residence keys provide access to your home. Do not loan out your keys or Campus Card to anyone else. If you lose them, report it immediately to your Residence Desk.
Never allow someone you do not know, or who is unauthorized, into a residence. If someone does enter that you don’t recognize, please call the Campus Safety Office.
Make sure your valuables are put away and not visible and accessible from the hallway. Take photos and record serial numbers of all your valuables such as laptops, cell phones, and bikes. This will make it easy to identify as yours if recovered.
Always lock your room door when you are not there. A thief can be in and out of a room in as few as seven seconds.
Trust your instincts and report illegal activities, suspicious people in the building, or safety concerns you see.
If you suspect your room has been broken into, call the Campus Safety Office immediately and do not touch anything.
CPTED Program
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), is a proactive approach to designing and using spaces to reduce crime and improve safety on campus.
At the University of Guelph, CPTED principles are applied to various areas such as buildings, pathways, and landscaping to create a safer environment for our students, staff, and faculty. By implementing strategies focused on natural surveillance, access control, territorial reinforcement, and activity support, by applying the CPTED principles our main goal is to deter potential problems before they occur and enhance the overall sense of security.
For more information directly related to how you can improve your area on campus feel free to contact Dave Pringle, Manager of Operations at dpringle@uoguelph.ca.
Contact Our Office
Dial 52245 from a campus phone
Trent Building, 32 Trent Lane
EMERGENCIES: 519-840-5000, Ext. 2000 (campus phone), or 911