Officers on Campus: Keeping You Safe and Studying, Too

The NYU Department of Public Safety headquarters at 7 Washington Place.

Each day thousands of students pass through the 81 academic buildings and 22 residence halls that make up NYU’s Manhattan campus. Stationed inside each one of those buildings — is a public safety officer. Students know them as the authority figures who check their ID’s and handle emergencies. Some even know them as the friendly faces who greet them each morning on their way to class. But few students ever learn officers’ names, and even fewer realize that many of these officers are students, too.

Officer X* is one of those friendly faces. He has been a public safety officer at NYU since 1997, and has learned a lot during his 21 years at the university. In fact, during that time, he even earned his bachelor’s degree in International Studies.

“The very first thing I did,” X said. “As soon as my probation was over, I went back to SPS [NYU School of Professional Studies] for a BA.”

Officer X is a second generation immigrant from Pakistan. When India was divided from Pakistan in 1947, at the end of a strenuous civil war, many Indian Muslims faced persecution and were forced to relocate, including X’s family.

“I am second generation of those who fought morally, socially and economically for their freedom from two forces: British and Hinduism,” he explained. “My parents, with the biggest migrant population in human history, had to live in camps where the life was tough.”

For X and his sisters, higher education seemed like a dream that could never come true.

“My parents’ loftiest dream was my and my four younger sisters education,” X said, though hardships forced him to postpone his studies.

Officer X had started college around the time that his father became sick, leaving X to support his family.

“I got a job as a technical hand in a small private industry and began giving all my salary to poor parents,” he said. “I was the only hope to help my family financially. I was lucky to come to America and send enough money to send my sisters back to school and medical bills for my dad.” Officer X’s father passed away the year after he immigrated to the U.S.

With Officer X’s help, one of his sisters was able to earn a teaching degree. Their parents' dream soon became his own. “I had been dreaming to see myself as an engineer,” he said. “But odd jobs and financial needs of my loved ones took so many years, I saw even the chance of higher education was slipping away.”

Then X was hired by NYU and learned about the university’s tuition benefits for employees. NYU offers a tuition remission benefit to full-time public safety officers, following a three-month probationary period, which covers full tuition up to 27 credits per academic year as well as 50% of registration fees, according to NYU’s Human Resources Department.

For reference, a full-time student at NYU is required to take at least 12 credits per semester. The remission benefit may be used towards one associate’s degree, one bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and one doctorate degree per employee, upon acceptance into a program. The benefit cannot be applied to NYU’s law or medical programs. Officers are also eligible for scholarships based on need.

X is one of many public safety officers who have made use of this valuable opportunity.

“When I began taking classes,” X recalled. “I had seen five of the officers taking classes in those days.” He marveled at the fact that all five of the studying officers were minorities, and four were immigrants like himself.

“Our department always encourages us to improve our education and skill,” X said. “I always have encouraged every coworker, friends and family to improve skills to make a difference in contributing towards a better world.”

In regards to this encouragement from NYU’s Department of Public Safety, Associate Vice President Fountain Walker said in a follow-up email, “As I said on the phone, we do have officers working on advanced degrees and I think your highlighting their journey is wonderful and speaks to your desire to show the "positive" in public safety.”

Despite VP Walker’s professed support for this story and his willingness to schedule an interview over the phone, when the appointment time came, he refused the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of his officers on record. It was disheartening to discover that not only have the educational pursuits of NYU’s public safety officers been largely unrecognized by students, but also unpublicized due to the department’s red tape.

Without department approval, speaking on record could be jeopardous for NYU’s officers. As such, I have changed the name of the officer in this story to protect his identity.

X's educational journey is far from over. When he heard that I was studying to be a writer, a huge smile came over his face.

He told me about his passion for the English language — his second language — and how much he enjoys tutoring students in the rules of grammar. He laughed as he reached under his desk and pulled out two grammar guides, the covers dulled and the pages well-worn from frequent study.

“I carry them with me everywhere,” he said.

Officer X has applied twice for an NYU master’s program to teach English, though both times he has been told that, "there were stronger candidates.”

After he had earned his bachelor’s in 2002, one of his sisters’ husbands became unable to support her and her four children.

“It became my moral responsibility to look after them,” he said, even though he was already supporting his own wife and children.

He explained, “one of the reasons, [for not being accepted into the master’s program] I know my GPA is slightly below the requirement from my struggle for the family back home and as a full time student also averaging 70 hours a week as a full-time employee.”

NYU mandates that public safety officers must still complete their full workday schedules in addition to their studies, which is a difficult feat to accomplish, even without X’s responsibilities. In addition, officers are still required to pay taxes on tuition, which are deducted from their paycheck.

NYU is not the only university in the city offering tuition benefits to officers. Columbia University provides tuition exemptions to officers based on the length of their employment, following a two-semester waiting period, reports Columbia’s Human Resources Department.

While NYU does not offer tuition benefits to part-time officers, Columbia provides a three-credit exemption per semester (one course) to part-time officers with less than one year of employment, and a four-credit exemption (one course) to part-time officers with more than one year of employment. Full-time officers receive six and seven-credit exemptions (two courses) per semester, respectively.

In addition, Columbia officers may transfer their unused tuition benefits to their spouses/domestic partners and children.

Meanwhile, NYU offers spouses/domestic partners of officers a remission benefit of nine credits per semester towards a degree program, including abroad programs, upon acceptance following the three-month probationary period, according to Human Resources.

After three years of full-time employment at NYU, an officer’s children become eligible for a remission benefit upon acceptance covering all credits in their degree program, up to and including a full course load. The benefit also applies to NYU’s abroad programs.

X beamed with pride as he told me that his older daughter has been consistently performing at the top of her classes and was the only student accepted from her middle school to attend the prestigious Brooklyn Technical High School. She is interested in studying medicine. With NYU’s support, Officer X’s commitment to higher education could be shared by his children.

The NYU Public Safety Seal

Every day Officer X has smiled and greeted me from his residence hall station as I make my way to and from classes. He has asked about my day and my studies, and I regret that it was not until the end of the semester that I bothered to ask about his.

* The name of the officer in this story has been redacted to safeguard his employment.