COEUR d'ALENE — There have been three shootings on college campuses in the month of October, two of which occurred Friday.

Eleven students are dead as the result of the shootings. One student was killed at Northern Arizona University in the early morning hours of Oct. 9, and another was killed at Texas Southern University.

The two shootings come just over a week after a gunman opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., and killed nine people. The campus shootings have prompted a national dialogue on mental health, guns, and the safety of students and faculty on higher education campuses.

“All colleges tend to plan their safety and security measures based on the types of challenges they typically face in their community as well as on their limited resources,” William Taylor told the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Taylor, president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, said that even as mass shootings have increased, there is a tendency to believe that “things like this don't happen here.”

“We have to accept that it can happen here,” he added. "And if we accept that reality, what do we need to do? How should we be addressing that?"

There is a diverse population of approximately 6,000 students and more than 1,000 employees at North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene. The very nature of campus life creates challenges when it comes to security, according to Communications Director Stacy Hudson.

“Unlike in a K-12 setting, where you can easily control access to the facility, a college campus like NIC spans acres and has multiple entrances and exits and multiple buildings,” Hudson told The Press. “That affects the lockdown and shelter-in-place protocol at NIC and also how students, employees, and visitors are trained to respond in the event of an emergency.”

Alex Harris, NIC student development director, said the community college employs five security officers, a lead security officer, and a security supervisor. Throughout the day, these security officers, who are professionally trained in public safety methods, are tasked with patrolling the campus on foot, by car, and bicycle.

Their authority, Harris added, is limited to the geographical boundaries of NIC's properties including: land, structures, streets, and parking facilities.

“Security officers also provide safety audits for all offices on all of our campuses to discuss emergency plans specific to those physical areas,” Harris said.

Harris — whose role finds him in charge of campus security, as well as emergency planning, student conduct, residence life, Title IX compliance, and student leadership and recreation — added that his officers have a wide scope of responsibilities.

Those responsibilities include, but are not limited to: locking and unlocking buildings, providing escorts for students and employees upon request, being at the ready in the event of a potentially volatile situation, and parking enforcement.

“They are a 365, 24/7, operation,” Harris added.

Last year, NIC entered into what Harris called a unique relationship with the Coeur d'Alene Police Department. The college signed a contract with the law enforcement agency that brought a full-time school resource officer to campus during the school year.

The relationship has led to a collaborative effort, Harris added, particularly when it comes to emergency planning. An example of this collaboration is an emergency preparedness video created by school officials and CDAPD.

“The SRO also serves as the go to person for students that have legal issues, is the primary investigator for crimes committed by NIC students, and is actively involved in intervention during student crises situations,” Harris said. “It provides us a highly visible, on campus, law enforcement officer who can respond to incidents within seconds.”

According to Hudson, the college furthered a comprehensive look at its alert systems in the wake of a piece of Idaho legislation that went into effect on July, 1, 2014. That legislation permits persons with an Idaho enhanced concealed carry permit to bring firearms onto college campuses.

“We added to them (the systems), implemented drills each semester, and began training with the community incident response team,” she said.

Hudson added that administration is not allowed to ask students or employees if they have an Enhanced Concealed Carry Weapons permit and, as such, the school does not have the ability to quantify how many people carry weapons while on campus.

There have not been any incidents or issues associated with the law being passed, Hudson said. Answers to frequently asked questions about the law can be found at http://bit.ly/1JXWzwX.

Umpqua Community College is not a “gun-free zone” as has been suggested. According to the school's website, possession of a firearm on campus is forbidden “except as expressly authorized by law or college regulations.”

This rule is in conjunction with a 2011 Oregon Court of Appeals ruling that the State Board of Higher Education cannot use an administrative rule to ban guns. Douglas County, where Roseburg is located, issues concealed handgun permits through its sheriff’s office.

Reports that the Umpqua shooter was mentally ill has led a national dialogue on the availability of mental health services in the country, particularly on college campuses. According to the American College Counseling Association, 81 percent of community colleges provide mental health services.

However only 8 percent of the service providers are offer on-site psychiatry.

NIC Disability, Health and Counseling Services Director Tim Gerlitz told The Press that the college offers students access to reduced-cost health care, and free counseling services.

“Though NIC does not have a staff psychiatrist, counseling services are provided by a master’s level certified therapist” he said.

Gerlitz added that the therapist at NIC is able to refer students to community resources when necessary.

“In addition to counseling services, NIC has a ‘Crisis Recovery Team’ staffed by trained individuals who are available to assist both students and employees during traumatizing events,” Gerlitz said.