"The program itself is still going to be one component, but we’re seeing it expanded in two different ways," he said. "We will still have the escort system provided but at the same time there will also be opportunities to help with public safety."

Lt. Aaron Woodruff of the ISU Police said the committee also promotes a sense of professional development in service.

"We plan on offering the volunteers many services, including our initial training, to show them what we expect of them to do," he said.

"Our services may include working at a home football game, so we would address the different aspects of working the game, including crowd and traffic control, as well as promoting guest speakers from other services to come in and train our volunteers to do all sorts of different and unique things."

The program also found new life through the Volunteers in Police Service organization, or VIPS, who invited the program to be mentioned as a resource on its Web site.

The mission of the organization, as stated on the Web site, is to "enhance the capacity of state and local law enforcement to utilize volunteers."

Illinois State is one of 11 colleges in the nation to be featured on the Web site. Spialek said the organization first gained interest in the STOP program through an article published in the Vidette in April, and is also extremely proud of this feat.

"It is with great pride that ISU is a part of this site because it not only promotes the school, but it strengthens the importance of this program," he said. "It promotes not only the escort system, but also makes our campus safer by having students play an active role in the security."

The escort system is scheduled to start towards the end of September into the first weeks of October.

"In some ways, starting at this time is perfect," Spialek said. "In order to be in STOP, we will require a criminal background check, as well as a few sessions of training. By the time all that is completed, it will be around the designated start time."

Spialek said the life or death of the committee relies on the recruitment phase, maintained by a series of informational meetings.

He said since its introduction in the spring, the committee has already gained about 20 volunteers.

"Twenty is a great number, but we’re going to need a lot more than that to be able to continue our services on campus," Spialek said.

The recruitment will also help determine the logistics of the group, including how many nights the escort service will be offered, how many students can work each shift and the designated hours for each shift.

"On a given day, our department functions with about 25 officers, so we cannot cover the entire area without relying on others’ help in reporting suspicious activity," Woodruff said.

"The program will be a great way for students to get involved, receive the recognition they deserve and will help those looking for a future career in the field by building their experience and connections throughout."

Two informational meetings will be held tonight at 7 p.m. and Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in Schroeder 242.

Spialek felt holding the same meeting on two separate occasions could also help STOP in recruiting new members.

"I know that the life of a student can, at some points, become very busy and we don’t want someone who might be interested in volunteering to miss the informational meeting because they had work, therefore thinking they can no longer be a part of the committee," he said.

Spialek added that STOP will apply to be an RSO in the coming weeks, and will have a table at Festival ISU this Thursday, Aug. 27 to pass out information to those interested.

"We [ISU Police and SGA officials] combined some funds to get safety whistles that we will hand out free to the students at the festival. These whistles will include the number for the ISU Police, which coincidentally will also be the number for the escort system," he said.

"In a way, the whistles help encourage students to be aware of the surroundings, and if they notice suspicious activity, they can get attention at a moment’s notice. They’ll know what to do," Woodruff said.