University Business - April 2008 - (Page 44)

Ready,Set, RESPOND every communication for training and liability purposes. Prior to Virginia Tech, there wasn’t an alert system for the classroom setting, notes Chris Burge, an IT consultant. “Not only can we also reach into a classroom and give a notiﬁcation, a faculty member or staﬀ or student could also pick up the phone and reach back out to public safety, so they can alert public safety of a situation that was happening in the building.” cut protocols for a medical emergency or severe weather, as tornados are common in the area, but no method to send instant mass communication. “It was sort of a chain of events. You tried to make sure that whomever might be on the scene at the particular type of emergency knew what to do,” says Provost Patricia L. Hardaway. Before the end of last year, oﬃcials implemented Account4Me from Christopher Technologies. The emergency management system stores information on users’ schedules and provides several ways to notify, identify, or locate registered users—and communicates their whereabouts to campus oﬃcials, emergency personnel, and staﬀ and students’ families. Users can also set up their own webpage and provide other contact information. During a crisis, users would be notiﬁed by a voice phone call, e-mail, or text message. They could respond back to Account4Me by calling a toll-free number, e-mailing, texting, or going online to the Account4Me webpage to be accounted for by clicking a button that would let oﬃcials know they were safe. If in danger, they could press a “Contact Me” button to be connected to an emergency response commander for assistance. A family member can dial into a toll-free number or log on to a loved one’s web account (with a pin and password) to ﬁnd out if he or she is all right. “It bridges that communication gap between our community and our loved ones,” says Hardaway. In recent years, Wilberforce oﬃcials have moved to strengthen capabilities to address and respond to various emergencies. Administrators are in the process of obtaining compliance with the Department of Homeland Security’s National Incident Management System, which involves a series of classes, and expect to be completed by June. “Even when you are totally up and running and you just tested the system, you always have a bit of alertness in the back of your mind because you just never know when something will happen. It’s a situation where you are all prepared, but you just hope you never have to use it,” says Hardaway. Oﬃcials at Connecticut College have tried to walk the ﬁne line between having the philosophy of respect for student privacy, while recognizing that parents want and need information in an emergency. “What we realized after Virginia Tech was that we would need to have a system for communicating with parents,” explains Patricia Carey, vice president for college relations. The decision to implement Blackboard Connect’s Connect-ED in fall 2007 brought up a lot of conversation on campus about in what situations Connect-ED would be used and how parents would ﬁt in to this procedure. Right now, it’s for emergencies only. Notiﬁcations can be sent just to the campus community or to emergency contacts as well. “We wanted to make sure that people felt comfortable sharing contact information with us and wouldn’t worry about that [family members] would be deluged with messages they didn’t want,” says Carey. Students register themselves or their parents or other emergency contacts to receive emergency communications. Faculty and staﬀ also have this option. universitybusiness.com FAMILY CONNECTIONS When implementing or expanding notiﬁcation systems, campus ofﬁcials should consider the need to keep family members of students and staﬀ informed during a crisis. After all, moms and dads who learn of the crisis want to ﬁnd out what’s happening immediately. Before Virginia Tech, Wilberforce University (Ohio) had clear- Getting Personal through Communication Post-Virginia Tech communications also involve reaching individual students who may need help—before a crisis occurs. In September 2007, ofﬁcials at Lebanon Valley College (Pa.) formed an Early Alert committee to identify, and if necessary, intervene with at-risk students. Meeting every other week, committee members raise and discuss concerns involving speciﬁc students whom they feel may be at risk and then form action plans for support. The committee is made up of heads of various departments involved in speciﬁc aspects of student life, from residential to ﬁnancial to academic. These also include health services, public safety, athletics, and the registrar’s ofﬁce. The collaboration offers a checks-and-balances system, where one department might take notice of a student’s behavior through regular interaction. It’s hoped this broad range of membership will prevent students from falling through the cracks. “An ofﬁce may be aware of stress going on in a student’s life, maybe a change in family income or a loss of a family member, and other people who can help them may not be aware of that,” says Gregory Krikorian, vice president for Student Affairs. “So that’s part of the discussions that occur.” It’s hard to pin down exactly how many of LVC’s 1,700 students the committee has discussed, Krikorian says. On a regular basis, members may talk about matters relating to about 10 or so students, whose issues range from minor to signiﬁcant. As a rule, every concern is considered important. “We can talk about a student who might be isolated or not coming out of their room, not attending classes,” says Krikorian, “and we want to make sure that we have some kind of action.” Along with the committee, LVC has a custom-made electronic early alert system enabling faculty and staff to submit the names of students they might be concerned about. A staff member will follow up with these students. There’s also a partnership with health-related services in the local community, in the case a student needs off-campus help. “I think the best practice is always bringing key players together to communicate effectively,” says Krikorian. “Our methodology is to identify, engage, and support.” 44 | April 2008 http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2008

University Business - April 2008
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Future Shock
On The Hill
Facilities Focus
Independent Outlook
Ready, Set, Respond
Small Steps to Safety
Admissions
Lecture Capture: A Fresh Look
Internet Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - April 2008