To: Business Managers
From: Mary Beth Koza, Director of Environment, Health & Safety
Jeff McCracken, Director and Chief of Public Safety
Steve Kenny, Director of Risk Management Services
Date: May 19, 2011
In light of the devastating weather events that recently affected the southeast United States and our local area, we are writing to remind you of the importance of your department’s disaster preparedness and business continuity planning. As part of this preparedness, campus departments are urged to have a current continuity of operations plan for their facilities.
To assist you with this planning process, the University has developed a “Facility Resiliency – Continuity of Operations Plan” template to help document your plans in the event of a loss or disruption to your facilities. This template prompts you to identify your key facilities, critical functions, communication needs, and mitigation and recovery strategies. An online version of this template can be found at this link.
The University has also developed a Guide to Business Continuity and Recovery Planning on Campus. An online version of this guide can be found at this link. A hard copy can be requested from Treasury & Risk Management Services. This guide is not intended to replace the need for you to have a comprehensive continuity of operations plan for your facilities. Rather, it is provided as a simple and effective resource to help better prepare you for any event that may interrupt your department’s operations.
Effective disaster preparedness is a shared responsibility from all levels of our University. Everyone can contribute to this process. And as the leader of your campus area, no one is in a better planning position to ensure your service is maintained during a crisis and that your respective area recovers from a disruption as quickly as possible.