Norwich — Three Rivers Community College will not seek state approval under a new state law to have armed security guards at its New London Turnpike campus in the coming school year, administrators said, but will monitor recent security improvements.

Three Rivers President Mary Ellen Jukoski said that while the state legislature in June approved a new law that allows community colleges to hire armed security guards, the legislation contained no funding for the trained security defined in the law.

Jukoski said college officials did not obtain cost estimates for armed security.

“We weren’t interested, because we know we can’t afford it,” she said Tuesday. “And there is a concern whether that’s where we would want our money to go. Our faculty might want more full-time faculty instead.”

Three Rivers contracts with Allied Barton to provide unarmed security on campus. Four security staff are on duty each shift, including one person staffing the main entrance desk. Others patrol the hallways, common areas, entrances and the sprawling parking lots.

They also have access to the estimated 70 security cameras located in common areas, including the cafeteria, hallways, entrances and grounds.

The bill allowing armed security was introduced this spring following the Oct. 1 shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., where a student killed nine people in a classroom before killing himself after being shot by police.

The Connecticut bill was passed by the General Assembly on June 6.

The new law allows the 12 community colleges to establish “special police forces” with approval by the Board of Regents for Higher Education.

The campus police would have the same powers as municipal police officers and would have to be certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council.

In spring, the Three Rivers Governance Council — since converted into a College Congress — polled students and staff on whether they would want armed security on campus.

The survey received 550 responses — 405 from students and 145 from faculty and staff — to the multiple choice question of whether having armed security would make them feel “less safe,” “more safe” or “have no effect on my feeling of safety.”

Three Rivers officials this week said they would not release results of the brief survey, but Jukoski said results were "inconclusive."

She said discussions about safety revealed two main concerns, that having armed security would adversely affect the “welcoming” atmosphere at Three Rivers but also could provide an increased measure of safety at the college.

Three Rivers had an enrollment of nearly 6,000 full-time and part-time students in the 2014-15 school year, according to state statistics.

Instead of seeking armed security, Three Rivers has made several improvements to current campus safety measures based on meetings with staff and students, Jukoski and Dean of Admissions Steve Goetchius said.

All doors except the main entrance will be locked after 6:30 p.m. The college also will run two safety lockdown drills per semester with Norwich police participating. All newly hired employees will undergo background checks.

Security measures will be discussed during campus meetings in September and October, Jukoski said.

“We will monitor all these actions and what’s going on in the world and go from there,” she said.

To date, only Manchester Community College has informed the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities administrative office that it will seek approval for a special police force, said Michael Kozlowski, director of strategic initiatives for CSCU.

Naugatuck Valley Community College already has armed security — the only community college with that authority prior to the new law — and is expected to seek approval to continue the service, Kozlowski said.

“We take the safety of everyone on campus very seriously and are supportive of what our campus police need to do their jobs,” Manchester Community College spokesman Michael Jordan-Reilly said in a statement. “The college currently does everything in its power to keep faculty, staff, students and visitors aware of their surroundings and to protect the security of the campus.”

Kozlowski was tasked by CSCU President Mark Ojakian with writing the proposed policy for community colleges to seek approval from the Board of Regents for Higher Education for armed security.

He confirmed that individual colleges would have to pay for the police forces.

The proposed policy calls for any college wishing to arm its security force to provide an overview of the need, training that would be provided and the number of officers expected to be needed based on the college size and geography.

The policy is expected to be reviewed by the Administration and Student Affairs Committee in September and presented to the Board of Regents in October.

If approved, the board could start receiving applications in November.

Kozlowski said the board would review only a few requests at a time, likely starting with Manchester and perhaps Naugatuck Valley.

“We’d like to get our feet wet with this as well, do it in a slow, methodical and programmed way to make sure we are doing it right all the way through the process,” Kozlowski said. “At the same time, we don’t want to slow it down unreasonably.”

c.bessette@theday.com