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This month's HigherEd Careers focuses on a topic that is vital to every person on campus - Emergency Preparedness. At some point in your career, your professional skill in handling an emergency situation may be required. The expert this month is Michael Schultz, President, Association of College and University Housing Officers - International (ACUHO-I) and Director of University Housing, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.

After reading, we invite you to continue the discussion in our LinkedIn group or follow HigherEd Careers on Twitter.

General Information about Emergency Preparedness

Hibel, HigherEdJobs.com: All three founders of HigherEdJobs.com were involved in a very serious situation while we worked at Penn State in 1996. The three of us worked in Old Main on the Penn State campus. Several hundred feet away, a shooter fired at students on the union lawn.¹ I had received no training and, as a professional, I was completely unprepared for the event. If readers take away and retain one piece of practical information from our chat about how to handle an emergency, what would you like it to be?

Schultz, ACUHO-I: Expect the unexpected. I can say that, because within the last 11 hours, on the week that I am ready to greet 3,500 resident students to my campus, a fire broke out in one of my apartment buildings. This emergency is the unexpected for this week.

Hibel: How has the definition of Emergency Preparedness changed from 1999 to 2009?

Schultz: Events like September 11th have raised concerns over terrorist threats. Possible targets include military installations, nearby dams, campus facilities conducting animal research, on-campus nuclear reactors and nearby sites of mass transportation, such as airports, railroads, ports, major highways, etc...

Bioterrorism threats include proliferation of hazardous bacteria, viruses, and related toxins that could be released into the air. Chemical threats could be in the form of toxic vapors, aerosols, liquids, or solids. Nuclear events would similarly involve some sort of bomb or explosion; however, the use of a Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD) would be far more likely. In the event of terrorist threats such as these, colleges and universities may need to evaluate how prepared they would be to evacuate or shelter-in-place based on the type and proximity of the threat, and the campus location and structure itself. (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, 2009)

Hibel: How has technology changed Emergency Preparedness on campus?

Schultz: We have learned that technology can be used to officially spread the word and unofficially spread the word. Many universities have put in place emergency alert systems. This will get out the official word on the type of incident and instructions on what to do. However, the word on the street is sent out so fast with text messaging, social network sites, email, voicemail and cell phones that it has added additional responsibilities to the first responders.

[Mr. Schultz then gave us a list of emergency measures which have been implemented at Virginia Tech]

• VT Alerts
• Emergency Alert System
• VT Portal/My VT: Additional servers are available which can be moved into production if and when necessary.
• Information Technology converted analog direct-inward-dial (DID) trunks to integrated services digital network (ISDN) trunks to provide access to calling number information on inbound trunk resources and to improve audio quality.
• Information Technology is leveraging existing, remote access trunks as overflow resources for the primary inbound trunk group to allow up to 184 additional inbound concurrent calls to campus during peak usage periods.
• The University engaged local service providers to discuss their capacity-planning and resource-engineering strategies relative to crisis situations.
• Information Technology investigated the ability to provide information announcements to callers before connecting them to an operator to reduce repetitious information exchanges during crisis situations.
• The University can now carry WUVT's audio signal on one or more of the Campus Cable TV instructional channels.
• Procedural changes have been implemented with local police departments to terminate transferred calls on the 911 lines instead of administrative lines. (Spencer, 2008)

In addition, Idaho State University uses Second Life to train individuals in emergency response in a virtual setting. (Briefs, 2008)

Hibel: Schools have become very serious about Emergency Preparedness and have placed a lot of excellent resources on the web.² Where should faculty and staff look to find out more information about the resources on their campuses?

Schultz: The following are some great samples of websites from schools around the country. However, most institutions post their resources on the Emergency Management pages.

• http://www.iub.edu/~prepare/
• http://www.fullerton.edu/emergencypreparedness/
• http://oep.berkeley.edu/campus_disaster_response/index.html
• http://bfa.sdsu.edu/emergency/
• http://www.purdue.edu/emergency_preparedness/
• http://www.globaled.us/irl/irlcd5.html
• http://www.lclark.edu/offices/human_resources/employee_resources/ policies/institutional/general/crisis_management_plan/
• http://homelandsecurity.tamu.edu/campus-emergency-template-folder
• http://wwwnew.towson.edu/main/abouttu/newsroom/popup071509.asp
• http://emergencyprep.usc.edu/emergency/response.html
• http://emergency.service.indiana.edu/Index.cfm
• http://www.ocep.uiuc.edu/
• http://preparedness.georgetown.edu/
• http://www.princeton.edu/main/administration/safety/emergency/

Hibel: What departments on campus are primarily responsible for Emergency Preparedness; who are the professionals who typically have that responsibility?

Schultz: Effective emergency management begins with senior leadership on campus. The president, chancellor, or provost must initiate and support emergency management efforts to ensure engagement from the entire campus community. This "champion" administrator will have decision-making power and the authority to devote resources to implementing the initiative and subsequently put into action the emergency management plan. Since budgetary realities may force campus administrators to make decisions within select fiscal parameters, it is important to have high-level support to provide both political and financial backing to the effort.

An emergency management initiative requires partnerships and collaboration. Every department responsible for creating a safe environment and enhancing campus functions must be involved in planning efforts. Plans should identify and engage internal and external partners, and ensure that all planning tasks are performed within a collaborative and integrated approach. This means involving a variety of departments and functions across the campus and reaching out to community partners in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. Partnerships with such community groups as law enforcement, fire safety, homeland security, emergency medical services, health and mental health organizations, media, and volunteer groups are integral to developing and implementing a comprehensive emergency management plan.
(U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, 2009)

Hibel: What statistics can ACUHO-I share about the current trends in campus emergencies?

Schultz: There are statistics available on fire information (Campus Firewatch, 2009) as well as extensive statistical data on criminal offenses, hate crimes and arrests from campuses all across the country. (U.S. Department of Education - Office of Postsecondary Education) For example, using the Office of Postsecondary Education tool, you can see that there have been 131 murders on U.S. campuses from 2001-2007.

Current Topics in Emergency Preparedness and Their Effects on Crisis Management Professionals

Hibel: What are current issues in Emergency Preparedness and how are they affecting professionals in the field?

Schultz: We are both located in the state of Illinois and our infamous former Governor implemented a new campus safety law shortly before his impeachment. The Federal Government, through the Department of Education, weighs in heavily on Campus Safety issues.

Hibel: What are the national legislative and state legislative requirements that you are currently facing as a professional who is responsible for emergency preparedness?

Schultz: [Mr. Schultz suggested the following tips in response to this question]

• Become familiar with pending legislation through following:
  • ACUHO-I website: http://www.acuho.org/Resources/ACUHOIPublicPolicy/tabid/769/Default.aspx
  • Contact with Governmental Relations & Public Relations officers
• The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires a statement of emergency response and evacuation procedures in annual security report to describe how institution will immediately notify campus community of significant emergency or dangerous situation
  • If institution follows emergency notification procedures, no timely warning necessary but follow-up as necessary
  • Notification may be sent to a segment or segments of population, if appropriate
  • Annual testing
  • Include a statement that institution will, without delay, and taking into consideration ONLY the safety of the community, determine content of notification and initiate system
  • Institution will follow emergency notification procedures, unless the notification compromises efforts to contain the emergency: e.g. Zinkhan case (delayed notification to tip off)

Hibel: ACUHO-I has an excellent webinar on prevention and intervention that includes a 150 item questionnaire regarding preparedness.³ Could you describe the importance of prevention and intervention preparedness?

Schultz: Prevention is important because it helps "decrease the likelihood that an event or crisis will occur." Intervention allows you to mitigate the effects of the hazards that you can't entirely prevent. It allows you to "eliminate or reduce the loss of life and property damage related to an event or crisis." (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, 2009)

Hibel: Using Swine Flu as an example⁴, could you discuss the development of a prevention and intervention plan as well as how that plan is disseminated throughout campus?

Schultz: The American College Health Association released extensive guidelines in 2003 for dealing with SARS. They're readily applicable to Swine Flu or other pandemic illnesses. (American College Health Association, 2003) Most universitites are monitioring the CDC website for updated information and reccomendations.

The University of Michigan also has a Business Continuity Plan for a pandemic disease scenario. (University of Michigan, 2006)

Hibel: Campus Violence and Emergency Preparedness is obviously a very important topic for both parents of students and, of course, students themselves. For a professional working in the EP or Campus Violence Prevention area, what would you recommend that this person equip themselves with professionally in order to reassure students and parents that their campus is safe?

Schultz: Data on campus security is available at http://ope.ed.gov/security/. You can get data for your specific institution to show how safe your campus is. There are also several training videos that are being released to help educate the campus community on what to do to be prepared to reduce campus violence.

Emergency Preparedness As A Career and On Careers In Higher Education

Hibel: Professions are often built on a solid education. Emergency Preparedness as a profession seems to be a growing field by the fact that there now seems to be degrees you can receive in the discipline⁵. If you were a new professional interested in getting into this field, what would you suggest is important in evaluating a graduate degree in the field?

Schultz: Although this is not my specialty, I know it would be helpful to individuals to have training in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and its Incident Command System (ICS). (Department of Homeland Security, 2008)

Hibel: What would you recommend a professional who wants to work in Emergency Preparedness do in order to work in this field?

Schultz: They must understand that they must develop a plan, or plan to fail.

Hibel: What steps can all faculty and staff take to be the most prepared to deal with emergency situations that may arise?

Schultz: Make preparedness an ongoing priority. "Typically and understandably, people in a department tend to be very busy and overworked," he said. "But you have to look beyond the day-to-day routine of your unit to see the potential for disaster, because some sort of disaster will happen. It's just a matter of when and whether you will be prepared for it." (Cover Story: Crisis Management, 2008)

Hibel: What is your best advice to a higher education professional looking to further his or her career today?

Schultz: Be dedicated to the work that you do on an everyday occurrence. Understand the effects that your work has on students and make the best decisions possible with a student's first mentality.