BUPD Policies & Procedures

Weather-related road conditions sometimes necessitate that the University consider delaying opening, closing, or remaining open. This decision is made by the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President in coordination with the Chief of Public Safety.

When the campus remains open during adverse weather, employees must use their best judgment when it comes to commuting to and from the workplace. They should not endanger themselves nor ignore the statements of local officials about traveling during adverse weather. Staff and faculty should make every effort to notify their supervisor if they cannot get to work or plan to leave early.
We will notify the campus of any delays or suspended operations as soon as possible and do our best to make announcements no later than 6:00 AM. Notifications are made through r2e.dos5.net, local TV stations, email notifications to Butler email addresses, and voicemail and text message alerts through DawgAlert. To sign up for DawgAlert notifications, log into your my.butler account and open the “info” tab in the upper left corner. Please note, to receive immediate DawgAlert text notifications for any situation on campus, you must enter a valid cell phone number; home phones and office phones will only receive a voice message. You can also find updates via Twitter by following @butleru.

There are two winter weather designations used by University officials:

When campus operations are suspended or delayed, in-classroom instruction will not occur. However, faculty may hold class at the regularly scheduled class time during the delay through synchronous technology (e.g., Zoom), or may assign asynchronous activities that you complete on your own time in lieu of in-person activities. Faculty are expected to communicate with students enrolled in their courses about whether and how class will occur on any day when campus operations are delayed or suspended.

In conjunction with Facilities and University Events, Butler University has established a Recreational Fires Policy.  This policy is for those groups wanting to host a special event and include a bonfire.

Date Restrictions For Bonfires

March 15–April 30 and August 15–November 15

Requirements and Procedures

Please refer to the Recreational Fires Information request sheet and the Recreational Fires Policy for reservation requirements and all the general information about hosting a bonfire.

If you have any questions, please direct an email to Captain Roy Betz.

Butler University Public Safety has developed a best practices procedure for bus idling. This includes school buses, tour buses, tractor trailers making delivers among other vehicles. Please refer to the policy for further information.

Bus Idling Policy (PDF)

The purpose of this procedure is to establish protocols for Butler University in response to reports of missing students, as required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 and Indiana statute IC 5-2-17.

This procedure applies to students who reside in Butler University campus residence halls, university owned apartments, or officially sanctioned university housing which includes Greek housing.

BUPD can also serve as a resource if a student is missing by assisting the reporting person to the appropriate law enforcement agency depending on the circumstances surrounding the report.

A student may be considered to be a “missing person” if the person’s absence is contrary to his/her usual pattern of behavior and unusual circumstances may have caused the absence. Such circumstances may include, but not be limited to, a report or suspicion that the missing person may be the victim of foul play, has expressed suicidal thoughts, is drug dependent, is in a life-threatening situation, or has been with persons who may endanger the student’s welfare.

All contact information provided by students for this missing persons procedure will be confidential and accessible only to authorized campus officials. It will not be disclosed, except to law enforcement personnel in furtherance of a missing person investigation.

Procedures for designation of missing person’s confidential contact information

Students will be given the opportunity during each semester to designate an individual or individuals to be contacted by the college no more than 24 hours after the time that the student is determined to be missing. A designation will remain in effect until changed or revoked by the student.

Students under the age of 18

In the event a student who is not emancipated is determined to be missing pursuant to the procedures set forth below, Butler University is required to notify a custodial parent or guardian no more than 24 hours after the student is determined to be missing, in addition to notifying any additional contact person designated by the student.

Official notification procedures for missing persons

1. Any individual on campus who has information that a residential student may be a missing person must notify the Butler University Police Department (BUPD) as soon as possible by calling 317-940-9396. Any individual can also notify:

• Community Director
• Community Assistants
• Resident Assistants
• Dean of Students

If reported to one of the individuals above, they will notify BUPD for an investigation.

1. BUPD will gather all essential information about the residential student from the reporting person and from the student’s acquaintances (description, clothes last worn, where student might be, who student might be with, vehicle description, information about the physical and mental well- being of the student, an up-to-date photograph, class schedule, etc.). Appropriate campus staff will be notified to aid in the search for the student if deemed necessary.
2. BUPD will notify the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) of the report and possibly request assistance from their Missing Person’s unit if deemed necessary. BUPD and IMPD will follow Indiana Code and investigate all reports of missing persons. Indiana Code requires no arbitrary waiting period for reporting a person missing.

Electric scooters made an official return to the City of Indianapolis. In the interest of campus safety, BUPD would like to highlight the campus guidelines regarding electric scooters.

• Scooters are prohibited from use on campus sidewalks and are subject to traffic laws.
• Scooters must be parked in an upright position, utilizing existing campus bike rack infrastructure.
• Scooters are not to be abandoned or haphazardly left on campus, against buildings, or in grass/landscaped areas.
• Electric scooters are prohibited from being charged inside campus residence halls, academic buildings, or other campus facilities.
• Scooters are prohibited inside campus residence halls, academic buildings, or other campus facilities.

We encourage you to be familiar with Butler’s policies as well as Indianapolis’ ordinances. You can see both in Butler’s Electric Scooter Policy.