Massachusetts public colleges and universities have been slow to adopt widely accepted security practices since last year's Virginia Tech massacre, in many cases failing to apply basic measures, according to a critical report that calls for sweeping changes across the state system to avert campus violence.

The report, compiled by a team of specialists and presented to the state Board of Higher Education yesterday, cited numerous safety deficiencies across the state system and urged the 29 public colleges to take immediate steps to rectify them.

Most state colleges do not use security cameras, have gun-carrying police officers, or train faculty and staff to recognize troubled students and employees, the report found. Only a handful have conducted vulnerability assessments, and one-third do not have arrangements with local law enforcement to respond to emergencies.

"Having a threat assessment team is an absolute no-brainer, and it could be done tomorrow," said Daniel O'Neill, an author of the report and president of Applied Risk Management, a security consultant. "That single recommendation would save the greatest amount of lives."

Since the Virginia Tech shootings, Massachusetts public colleges, as well as their private counterparts, have taken a hard look at emergency policies and in many cases made sweeping changes. All state schools now have mass notification systems that included e-mail, text-messaging, and Web alerts, and some have received training from the FBI for interpreting violent writings.

Still, the report said, colleges must take further steps to prepare for emergencies and to reach out to troubled students.

The 114-page study was undertaken after the Virginia Tech shootings April 2007, when a gunman who had exhibited a lengthy pattern of unstable and antisocial behavior killed 32 people. The study found that most schools lack formal procedures for handling students who seem capable of violence and do not submit writing with violent images to a forensic specialist for review.

Other authors of the report said formal, preventive policies would help colleges spot warning signs and resolve situations before they surface. The Virginia Tech gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, had raised concerns with his disturbing writings for a creative writing class.