Higher Ed Crisis/Emergency Management Planning - News

24 Jul

This page of news items is a service of the Society for College and University Planning. It is managed by an undergraduate student from the University of Michigan and was last updated in January 2007. If you see a news media item that you think should be included here or you find that a link to a news story is no longer active, please send an e-mail to campusdesign@scup.org.

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List

(August 2006)
Really Ready.org
“ReallyReady.org [from the Federation of American Scientists] is devoted to providing comprehensive and correct emergency preparedness information for families, businesses, and individuals with disabilities.” A useful website for students, faculty, and staff.

(July 14, 2006)
Chronicle of Higher Education: The Art of Anticipation
“Anticipation in the administrative context is more than a hunch or a feeling about what may come next. It is the developed skill of imagining all the possible outcomes that could unfold from a single act, assessing the relative probability of each occurring, predicting the multiple implications for the campus of the most likely outcome(s), and planning a response to manage the outcome to the best interests of the institution…It need not be overly complicated: The routine and consistent discussion of case studies at staff meetings or retreats can go a long way toward encouraging administrators to think carefully about what they would do when faced with any range of crises. ”

(May 10, 2006)
Susquehanna University: Hospitals, universities prepare for worst
“With a nudge from government and health officials, universities and hospitals are starting to prepare responses to a potential outbreak of the deadly bird flu strain…University officials are working with borough, county and state officials as they move forward…Calling the plan “very thorough,” he said the school is following a plan set out in a book called ‘Blueprint for Pandemic Flu Preparedness Planning for Colleges and Universities.’ ”

(April 26, 2006)
Princeton University: University plans for bird flu outbreak
“University emergency planners are preparing to protect the campus community in the event of virulent pandemic influenza. Last Wednesday, officials met with representatives from the Princeton Regional Health Commission, Mercer County and the State of New Jersey to discuss how to coordinate responses to a possible outbreak of bird flu. We’ve been proactive. It was the University and health services who have actually forged these connections,’ Chief Medical Officer Daniel Silverman said. ‘Nobody came looking for us; we came looking for them.’ ”

(April 19, 2006)
Central Michigan University: Is CMU ready?
“Sarah Campbell, director of University Health Services, said CMU is prepared to handle disasters. CMU has a Crisis Management team chaired by Vice President (of finance and administrative services) George Ross that can pull together an appropriate group of team members to address any of the potential disasters that could affect our campus,’ she said. The team’s most recent work has been rewriting plans to respond to inclement weather, said Rich Morrison, associate vice president of public relations and marketing and crisis management team member. “

(April 18, 2006)
St. John’s University: Avian Flu Hasn’t Arrived in U.S., but St. John’s University Prepares Just in Case
“If the avian flu or any other pandemic strikes the New York area, St. John’s University will be prepared. Its Emergency Management Committee has drafted an Avian Influenza Response Plan, which is currently circulating among key departments for their input…The University has a four-level Avian Influenza Response Plan, says Dr. Greaney. The first two are preparatory; Level III goes into effect if and when the first case of human to human transmission in the U.S. is confirmed. ‘We would work with supporting government agencies to distribute prophylactic medication if available should there be a confirmed case of human to human transmission in the New York area,’ she says. ”

(April 18, 2006)
Standford University: Is Stanford ready for the next Big One?
“One hundred years ago this morning, a 7.8-degree earthquake rocked the Bay Area, nearly obliterating a fledgling Stanford University…The question remains — is Stanford ready? University officials say they are confident in their emergency planning, and that they take every precaution to prepare for a range of disasters, including the next major earthquake…An elaborate, publicly-available emergency plan details the response mechanism that would be put in place after an earthquake. A central operation center located at the Faculty Club would be activated by the incident commander — currently the chief of police — and 26 satellite operation centers would come online. Each satellite center has developed its own local plan for what to do in the event of an earthquake.”

(January 19, 2006)
Purdue University: New center finds data management techniques for homeland security
“A new center funded by the Department of Homeland Security and Purdue University has been devoted to researching ways ti improve security and emergency response….Ebert said the ongoing goal of the center is to develop new techniques and approaches to help people make effective, rapid decisions while considering large amoungs of information.”

(January 18, 2006)
Purdue University: Center’s focus is keeping U.S. safe
“The Department of Homeland Security has announced the creation of the $1.1 million Purdue University Regional Visualization and Analytics Center. The center, which will be funded the first year with $750,000 from Homeland Security and $387,000 in matching funds from Purdue, will be responsible for research that participants and government officials hope will better prepare the U.S. for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.”

(December 30, 2005)
University of Arkansas: Emergency Center Taking Shape
“Washington County officials, working in conjunction with the University of Arkansas and city leaders from Fayetteville and Springdale, have begun renovating the former juvenile detention center. The goal is to create an emergency operations center capable of serving as a command post in the event of a local or regional disaster.”

(November 9, 2005)
DirectionsMag.Com: Hawaii Consortium Awarded Major Grant for Pacific Emergency Preparedness
“Redlands, California—-A consortium of universities and other organizations has been awarded a major grant for emergency preparedness training for the states of Hawaii and California as well as the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). The grant, approved for approximately $4.14 million over three years, will foster the development of the Pacific Emergency Management, Preparedness and Response Information Network and Training Systems.”

(November 7, 2005)
Dartmouth University: College group plans for disaster response”
“In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and New Hampshire’s October flooding, Dartmouth’s Emergency Management Committee is preparing for future natural disasters that may affect the College.”

(November 1, 2005)
Tulane University: Disaster Recovery: The Time Is Now
“On the heels of Katrina, it’s time to get a top-flight disaster recovery plan into place….Although many have argued that the proportions of the Katrina disaster went far beyond a scale that can be planned for, others insist that the tools of disaster recovery planning (DRP) aren’t necessarily prohibitive in terms of dollar or time investment, nor do they need to be highly complex. ”

(November 1, 2005)
University of Toronto: Software allows U of T to contact faculty, staff, students in the event of a crisis
University first to install Bell Canada’s emergency communications system. “The Emergency Response Management Solution (ERMS) is a computer-based software tool that will allow U of T to establish and maintain contact with faculty, staff and students in the event of a crisis on or off campus.”

(October 27, 2005)
Gwatchet.com
Universities look to back up online services. “In the aftermath of last month’s hurricanes, Makos said 284 Gulf Coast-area businesses and schools contracted with SunGard appealed to the company for technology help [...] In order to make the University’s information technology more resilient, Information Systems and Services oversaw the construction of a new data center on GW’s Ashburn, Va., campus as a mirrored backup to the primary center in Foggy Bottom.”

(October 26, 2005)
College Planning and Management magazine: Disaster Preparedness
Disaster Preparedness. “The crisis management team held a series of meetings, the first of which was September 16, three days before the storm was scheduled to make landfall. “At this meeting, we put our plan into place,” says Rubertone.”

(October 21, 2005)
Kankakee Community College: New disaster major at college
“In response to the demand for emergency response education, an Illinois two-year community college will offer an Associate Degree in Emergency Management starting in the spring semester.”

(October 20, 2005)
Fairfield University: Colleges revamp plans for emergencies
“Colleges across the nation are quickly revamping security plans for natural disaster emergencies following the closings of several universities in the Gulf Coast area prompted by Hurricane Katrina.”

(October 19, 2005)
Tulane University: Confessions and Advice, After the Storm
Confessions and Advice, After the Storm. “John D. Lawson, the chief information officer at Tulane University, garnered a standing ovation from a crowd at the Higher Education Leadership Forum, a two-day event sponsored by The Chronicle and Gartner. His talk covered in detail Tulane’s preparation for Hurricane Katrina and the issues the university dealt with in the aftermath.”

(October 17, 2005)
Federal Emergency Management Agency: Disaster Resistant Universities
“Building A Disaster Resistant University” is both a how-to guide and a distillation of the experiences of six universities and colleges across the country that have been working over the past several years to become more disaster-resistant. ”

(October 11, 2005)
George Mason University: George Mason University Charged With Developing Emergency Shelter Operation Plan for the Commonwealth of Virginia:
GMU Charged With Developing Emergency Shelter Operation Plan for the Commonwealth of Virginia. “Virginia Governor Mark Warner has requested the assistance of George Mason University in developing the first-ever Virginia Plan for Evacuation Event Response.”

(October, 2005)
University Business: When Disaster Strikes
“IHEs are implementing wide-ranging plans to protect their technology systems in the event of natural or man-made disasters.”

(September 30, 2005)
Chicago Maroon: Designing for Disaster
“The displacement of Gulf Coast college students in the wake of Hurricane Katrina should prompt college officials nationwide to take a hard look at their respective emergency disaster plans. The University of Chicago had the foresight to take the important step of examining its own emergency management plan even before the hurricane hit, but the plan seems to be no plan at all when it comes to specific procedures for the campus community.”

(September 30, 2005)
University of Central Oklahoma: Two Storms- Katrina and Rita
“UCO is preparing a mitigation plan to reduce vulnerability to the many potential disasters Central Oklahoma faces….To fund the mitigation plan, a $75,000 grant has been provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.”

(September 13, 2005)
Inside Higher Ed magazine: Recovery From Disaster
“Members of this group, which no one wants to join, stress that their colleagues in New Orleans have it worse than they did. But they also want their counterparts on the Gulf Coast to know that a college can experience seemingly total catastrophe and come back strong.”

(February, 2005)
American Library Association: Pre-Disaster Mitigation
“FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program provides funds for hazard mitigation planning and the implementation of mitigation projects prior to a disaster event. PDM program provides a way to raise risk awareness and reduce the nation’s disaster losses through planning and the implementation of cost-effective mitigation measures.”

(December 10, 2004)
University of Miami: UM Receives Grant to Implement Disaster Preparedness Plan
“The University of Miami has received a $226,500 grant to implement a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program to reduce overall risk to students, faculty, facilities and research assets.”

(October 2004)
FEMA News: FEMA Awards $3.2 Million To Colleges, Universities to Become Disaster Resistant
“The DRU program assists universities and colleges, through State and local governments, to implement a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program to reduce the overall risk to students, faculty, facilities and research assets.”

(January 1, 2003)
Columbia University Teachers College: TC Puts Together Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Plan
“Each department in the College is in the process of evaluating its function and primary needs to conduct business so that the Business Continuity Management Team can put together a concrete plan for keeping the institution functioning in the face of adversity. ”