Emergency Preparedness

When thinking about disaster preparedness and recovery, colleges and universities are no different than traditional businesses - they should not operate without a disaster plan. In developing your institution's plan, keep these three elements in mind: the human toll, physical resources, and business continuity. The following are resources to help you develop or refine your plan, respond to and recover from an emergency, and reduce risk through mitigation.

Resources

• NACUBO’s COVID-19 resource page has information that can help your institution respond to concerns and learn more about how other colleges and universities helping students, staff, faculty, and their communities understand and address Covid-19.
• UC Ready: The University of California, Berkeley has made its robust web-based business continuity planning tool freely available to all colleges and universities.
• Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center includes the Guide for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Institutions of Higher Education,, a joint project completed in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Education and three other agencies, and a 13-page listing of other resources.
• National Incident Management System: Run by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, NIMS provides a common, nationwide approach to enable communities to work together to manage all threats and hazards, including a number of relevant training opportunities.
• Ready Campus: Includes links to documents, training resources, and more.

Business Officer Articles

Joining Forces (February 2018)
In a collection of profiles about resilience, you’ll read stories of campus and neighborhood efforts to strengthen the social fabric and cultivate the capacity of communities to thrive.

Systemic Strength (February 2018)
In partnership with their cities and towns, campuses can bolster the structures and systems that communities need to weather unexpected events and adverse conditions.

At the Ready (January 2017)
After a violent tornado barely missed The University of Alabama in 2011, campus leaders resolved to enhance and benchmark the institution’s emergency management program.