More than half of Oklahoma’s higher education campuses have developed strategies to react to bomb threats and shooters, according to a survey from the Campus Life and Safety and Security Task Force.

The task force, created in April 2007 by Gov. Brad Henry after the Virginia Tech shooting, discussed the survey at its meeting Monday in Oklahoma City.

The survey also states that institutions now have more ways to notify students about campus emergencies, and 86 percent of campuses review their emergency plans annually.

This year’s survey included information from more than 70 schools and universities across Oklahoma and will be included in the committee’s annual report.

The report, which will be released at a press conference on Jan. 15, will also include a request of $16 million from the Department of Homeland Security for campus security measures.

Task force member Roger Webb, president of the University of Central Oklahoma, said recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India demonstrate the importance of identifying emergency plans and security measures.

“I think that someday there will be an event on a school or college campus, and we’ll be saying we knew it would happen,” Webb said. “It brings to light what many people have been saying for some time. Students have to be the eyes and ears.”

Webb said his university experienced a bomb threat last May, and he thinks the university responded well because of work done by the task force to instill more extensive security plans.

Thomas McKeon, Tulsa Community College president, said emergency situations, like the one at UCO, need to be included in the committee’s January report.

“I think that really brings to life the issues more than just surveys,” McKeon said.