Oxnard College officials announced Thursday plans to increase campus security and close a parking lot where a woman was raped last week.

Ventura County Community College District Interim Chancellor Bill Studt listed a number of changes scheduled to go into effect Tuesday after a 52-year-old student was raped on Feb. 3.

The woman was walking to her car in a dirt parking lot in the north end of campus around 6:30 p.m. when a man picked her up and put her into an older white van with no windows parked next to her car, Oxnard Police Department spokesman David Keith said. After the man raped her, he let her go and she drove away.

Studt said Thursday that another woman claimed she had been grabbed by the arm in a womens bathroom on campus in October. A few hours later, Studt said that campus police found only a Sept. 22 report filed by the female student saying she had been followed on campus by another student.

That stalking prompted students to circulate a petition in October, Studt said. A student supposedly filed the petition, which garnered 400 signatures and demanded more lighting, with a college administrator. But school officials couldn't find the document Thursday, Studt said.

The college plans to increase safety next week by paying campus police overtime for additional patrol in the area, paying five additional Oxnard Police Department officers to walk and bike around the campus during day and evening classes, and possibly bring in reserve officers. Studt met with Oxnard police officers this week to ask that they drive through the campus and along the perimeter hourly.

Fliers are being posted on bathroom doors notifying students about the rape and two groping incidents last year on sidewalks near the campus. Free self-defense and counseling classes are also being offered to students.

"When these things happen, we have to take care of business," Studt said, adding that the increased security will last "until we have the thing under control or we apprehend this individual."

Originally, campus police refused to talk to the media about the rape. Ventura County Community College Police Chief James M. Botting said Oxnard police agreed to notify the media -- but they never did. Oxnard police said last week that they didn't know about the rape, but admitted Monday they had slipped up by not informing the public.

"The bottom line is, somebody screwed up," Studt said. "If we're in a joint thing like that, we need to make sure that both parties release it (information)."

College officials made changes regarding how the media, the student newspaper and other groups are notified of crime on the campus, Studt said.

"Our hope is that now we have some things in place where we'll be able to communicate in a more effective way," Studt said.

Rape Crisis Program Manager Constance Bryant of the Coalition to End Family Violence said there's value in letting the public know about sexual attacks.

"I think that if they read about an attack and it seems similar to what happened to them, they might come forward," Bryant said. "You saw it with Luster and you saw it with Sanchez," Bryant said referring to the serial rape cases in Ventura County.

The dirt parking lot where the rape occurred is scheduled to be closed Tuesday, until a new paved parking lot is ready. Studt said it is simply too unsafe.

Oxnard police are still looking for the rapist and do not know if he is a student. He is described as about 6 feet tall, weighing about 200 pounds with short brown hair and brown eyes, and he was wearing a gold hoop earring in his right ear.

Anyone with information is asked to call Oxnard College Police at 986-5808.