Why a need for Crisis Management?

College and university housing operations are traditionally composed of high-density housing for students and on many campuses, their families. Students in the United States are being housed in facilities that are two hundred years old as well as in recently completed, state-of-the-art facilities. Many campuses continue to house students in on-campus housing facilities that were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s as well as off campus in high-density apartments, small houses, and duplexes. These facilities have come under close scrutiny in the past ten years due to several, highly visible situations. Agencies have responded by creating numerous city-county codes, state requirements, and federal requirements that must be followed in order for campuses to use facilities for housing students. Increasing requirements from fire codes; new requirements for wind loading; new standards of construction; requirements in older facilities for asbestos and lead abatement, radon, and ADA compliance have all provided increased facility management issues and increased the need for organized crisis management.

The condition and maintenance of college and university facilities alone may be enough evidence for the development of a comprehensive crisis management plan but the plan would lack a major component. The students and their families are also a major consideration. The students arriving on college and university campuses today are the most medicated population of students to ever set foot on a campus. Many of the students have visited with counselors regarding their personal situations and difficulties before arriving to campus. Students are working hard to keep their eating disorders, attention deficit syndrome, physical disabilities, and depression to mention a few, regulated in order to attend and successfully complete classes. Most students have not shared a bedroom with a sibling that may lend to their inability to communicate, solve problems, and confront their roommate. Increasing the complexity are many international students away from family and their culture; one-parent families and their dependents in family housing; and student who practice a range of religious and spiritual beliefs.

These complex environments both physically and personally have the potential for crisis management incidents. Students' and their dependents' safety and security are a high priority for campus housing officers and possessing an established, coordinated plan for crisis management is vitally important.

Crisis management as it relates to facilities and individuals is very broad and any one piece can be highly detailed. The materials in this resource center will provide you with a general understanding of the essential points and resources necessary to develop or revise your crisis management plan. The information is presented in an order that allows you to develop a plan from the beginning. The information also allows you to follow a logical fashion in order to revise or tighten an existing plan.

Getting to the Specifics: This resource center will provide information on the following areas:

Getting Started Learning Segment

• Forming and charging a review/planning committee
• Definition of key terminology related to crisis
• Use of a consultant in the development or revision of the crisis management plan and considerations in the selection of a consultant
• Assessing crisis preparedness on your campus via a downloadable Crisis Management Self Assessment Tool
• Completing a facilities assessment
• Business resumption plans (BRP) for data restoration due to accident or natural disaster with guidelines for the development of a BRP
• Budgetary implications for the development/revision of a crisis management plan

Individual Crises Learning Segment

• Staffing and training options and considerations: exploring options for staffing for crisis management (residential staff, campus counseling staff, counselor in residence position with sample job description, and crisis intervention specialists); crisis training needs of staff by topical areas (resident assistants, hall directors, area coordinators, assistant directors); and a brief overview of The Crisis Street Training Program
• Preventative plans for crisis management: passive and active educational programs
• Three important considerations in developing a medical protocol
• Four factors to consider in the development of a psychological protocol
• Issues when managing sexual assault crises, including use of a crime victim advocate; and common points to consider in developing a plan for managing sexual assaults
• Issues when managing a student death; and additional considerations in managing death by suicide or homicide
• Documentation and statistics, including components of a quality incident report and maintaining crisis statistics

Human/Accidental Crises Learning Segment

• Two steps in managing chemical emergencies and important considerations
• Bomb threat protocols with downloadable bomb threat documentation form
• Categories of potential terrorist attack and developing protocols as appropriate
• Prevention of and response to fire emergencies in the halls including information related to common causes, prevention, building evacuation and alarm silencing protocols, and staff training
• Guidelines for managing a campus riot
• Managing brownouts/blackouts and emergency generator maintenance
• Documentation and statistics

Natural Disasters Learning Segment

• Hurricane disaster preparation guidelines with downloadable hurricane disaster emergency plan and emergency procedures for residents
• Tornados: Safety tips for residents with downloadable Tornado Safety Instructions for residents
• Earthquake survival tips for students and code/building introductory information for high risk areas
• Protocols for managing winter storms
• Managing heavy rains in flood prone areas of residence halls and advance preparation for a major flood
• Components of lightning protection systems
• Managing sink holes, mudslides, avalanche, volcanoes and tsunamis
• Documentation and training via mock drills and table-top exercises

Important Notes Learning Segment

• The importance of single person coordination
• Working with community agencies
• Incorporating an Incident Management System (IMS) in crisis coordination
• Understanding privacy, confidentiality, and mandatory reporting
• Tips for working effectively with the media
• Final thoughts from the author