Higher Ed Crisis/Emergency Management Planning News 2007

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“Emergency management directors at Washington universities say the Virginia Tech massacre is one more reminder that they must improve the way they communicate with students, faculty and staff during a crisis. Campus threats forced lock-downs and evacuations at universities, high schools and middle schools in nearly a dozen states on Tuesday, a day after a Virginia Tech student’s shooting rampage killed 33 people.”

“University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr. sent the following campuswide e-mail letter Wednesday to review UK’s emergency preparedness in the wake of the Virginia Tech killings on Monday. Todd told the campus community what UK has already done to be ready for an emergency, and he mentioned ways in which the university is reviewing its preparations in the event of a crisis. The e-mail potentially reached some 26,000 students and more than 12,000 employees.”

“The Governor of Virginia is calling for a review of Virginia Tech’s response to the shooting. Here in the Lowcountry—colleges are revisiting their safety policies—in light of the shootings. The Citadel says in the fall—school leaders took a major look at its crisis plan and completed a new draft in December. The college says the shooting at Virginia Tech is a wake up call to once again review their policy—and make any necessary improvements…The Governor of Virginia is calling for a review of Virginia Tech’s response to the shooting. Here in the Lowcountry—colleges are revisiting their safety policies—in light of the shootings. The Citadel says in the fall—school leaders took a major look at its crisis plan and completed a new draft in December. The college says the shooting at Virginia Tech is a wake up call to once again review their policy—and make any necessary improvements. ”

“Shots were fired on Virginia Tech’s campus Monday morning, 33, including the gunman, are dead and many more injured. The nation continues to be stunned that such a massacre could occur on a college campus and one issue is on everyone’s mind – campus safety…Although Marshall has never had to deal with a tragedy of this proportion, Terry assures students they are prepared if an emergency situation should occur.”

“Northern Michigan University has a crisis response plan in place but it’s only had to implement it once before — fortunately not because of a shooting incident such as the one that rocked the Virginia Tech campus Monday…Paavola said she believes every university in the country has some type of emergency plan. NMU has an emergency response team, coordinated by the NMU Public Safety Department, consisting of about eight to 10 people who manage small areas on campus. The team meets periodically to discuss different scenarios, Paavola said.”