Emergency Preparedness

EDUCAUSE convened “The Role of Information Technology in Campus Security and Emergency Management,” an invitation-only summit August 17–18 for IT professionals, facilities managers, law enforcement, and other campus leaders to explore how communications and information technologies can be leveraged to address campus security and emergency preparedness.

A principal goal of the summit was to collect a growing body of knowledge on effective, integrated security and emergency management environments for campuses and the community and to encourage collaboration for future projects and innovations in this area.

The results of the EDUCAUSE summit will be showcased this fall at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Orlando and will be shared through other association events and future publications. For more information, access the press release or visit the EDUCAUSE Connect Hazards Summit 2008 resource page (under Community Resources, click the "Blogs" tab).

Is efficiency making us vulnerable?

Art Botterell, community warning systems manager for the Office of the Sheriff in Contra Costa County, Calif., warned that it may be.

During his presentation, “A Shifting Landscape: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities,” he argued that an institutional culture that rewards efficiency may be opening the door to catastrophic instances, eliminating organizational flexibility and “trimming the fat” before a cold winter sets in. Instead, he suggested that campuses should move away from a “monoculture” approach with technology to a process for cultivating rich technologies. It’s not, for instance, about delivering warnings from the same system. But accessing all warning notification systems from a single interface.  

This approach, he said, may “future proof” processes and open the door to greater diversity and competition.

He also offered his own “Five Simple Rules” for emergency management:

After focusing on challenges for much of the early afternoon, the focus has shifted at the EDUCAUSE Summit from identifying issues to sharing solutions.  Participants have offered innovations from their own campuses, most focusing on emergency notification  and communication systems (sirens, text messaging, digital signage) or campus monitoring. There are examples of data protection and coalition building (particularly in breaking down communication walls between campuses and emergency responders), and a few that focus on disaster education. Very few, however, address one of the primary issues that the group identified in earlier sessions: that students, faculty and staff aren’t creating a culture built around safety and preparedness, with an emphasis on training and prevention.

From the initial list of innovations – more than 40 total – the group selected six innovations for a “lightning round” of presentations. (A complete list will be compiled from the Summit and available at a later date.) These “solutions in focus” are a snapshot of the ideas presented:

Colleges and universities are subject to all-hazards, ranging from natural disasters to man-made events.  Recent shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, coupled with the devastation of floods and hurricanes and the threat of domestic and international terrorism have created a new sense of urgency on our campuses as we continue to explore new practices and policies for security and emergency management, from preparedness through recovery. 

In February, EDUCAUSE joined NACUBO and several other higher education associations to launch a new initiative aimed at helping institutions of higher education to develop comprehensive, all-hazards emergency management plans. This month, EDUCAUSE will bring together campus and IT leaders to continue the dialogue.

Welcome to our back-to-school episode of EDUCAUSE Now! EDUCAUSE Now is a monthly podcast, focusing on the intelligent use of information technology in higher education. Each episode features a variety of stories, interviews, and views that relate to IT in higher education. Let us know what you would like to hear at podcast@educause.edu.

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This episode of EDUCAUSE Now features:

Governor Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia has signed several General Assembly bills that arose from the Virginia Tech tragedy of a year ago "that will improve protections for our citizens and treatment for people with mental illness" according to a press release. Among the signed legisation is Senate Bill 538 that imposes new requirements for emergency notifications:

EDUCAUSE has joined with NACUBO and several other higher education associations to launch a national campus safety and security project. The project team will conduct an 18-month study that will examine threats of every nature facing colleges and universities and develop guidelines for campus emergency management plans for prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. Mark Luker, vice president of EDUCAUSE, underscores the importance of addressing campus threats through a multi-organizational effort: "EDUCAUSE, for example, has investigated cyber security and assisted institutions in solving related problems. Expanding on our past efforts in the most meaningful way to colleges and universities requires more of an enterprise approach. We’re looking forward to this opportunity to integrate the concerns and work of EDUCAUSE with those of our partners in the higher education community who represent other components of campus life."

Related link: EDUCAUSE/Internet 2 Computer and Network Security Task Force

Tune in November 5 for a talk with Erv Blythe, vice president for information technology at Virginia Tech. During this hour-long, free EDUCAUSE Live! Web seminar, Blythe will discuss the IT-related lessons the university has learned from the tragic shootings that took place on campus this past spring, including:

• The impact on the university's communication system
• The notification issue
• Radio communications interoperability
• The complex logistics of accommodating the communications infrastructure and control center needs for a variety of emergency responders and law enforcement
• Identity management and privacy
• Data preservation and computer forensics

He will also consider overarching federal, state, and local policy issues and ways in which the university has managed them.

In response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech, Chairman Patrick Leahy of the Senate Judiciary Committee has combined several pre-existing bills into a comprehensive package that would provide for improvements in school safety and law enforcement. This legislation was approved by Committee and is waiting for full consideration by the Senate.

The Senate package -- titled The School Safety and Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 2007 ("SSLEIA") -- combines four bills previously reported to or by the Senate Judiciary Committee, with some modifications:

• The School Safety Enhancements Act (S.1217)
• The NICS Improvement Amendments Act (H.R. 2640)
• The Equity in Law Enforcement Act (S.1448)
• The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2007 (S.376)

The bill would, among other things,: