An evaluation of safety and emergency notification practices underway at UNM heightened in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Students, parents, faculty and staff have posed the difficult question: Is UNM ready to cope if the unthinkable happens here?
The university has its own police force, fire marshal and emergency manager. About 100 additional staff across campus train to respond during critical incidents, said Police Chief Kathy Guimond. A comprehensive emergency management plan governs campus. University officials work closely with local, state and federal agencies.
The very nature of colleges and universities – with significant student turnover each year – requires continuous training about campus safety. A FEMA-certified team of high-level staff conducts drills. They are on-call 24/7 to staff an Emergency Operation Center (EOC). An Emergency Management Committee meets and makes recommendations to acting President David Harris
“UNM has a real commitment to emergency preparedness,” Guimond said. “We conduct announced and unannounced drills, and we’ve had actual EOC activations.”
Incoming President David Schmidly recently directed the formation of a campus wide Safety and Security Task Force. Harris said the work of this group would complement security integration efforts underway, as well as the work of Gov. Richardson’s Campus Safety Task Force.
The UNM group will be charged with a number of initiatives, including the evaluation of systems, infrastructure, personnel and equipment resources and making recommendations with respect to coordination of all campus security components.
An emergency preparation brochure will be posted at the Police Department’s Web site. It will be printed and distributed across campus and during new student and parent orientations, UNM Police Lt. Pat Davis said.
UNM uses repetitive forms of communication during an emergency, including the UNM e-mail alert, which goes to 40,000 across campus. Guimond says the university was able to quickly implement text messaging capabilities this week because it was in the process of purchasing a system. UNM contracted with e2Campus, which as the ability to send time-sensitive messages to students, faculty, staff and parents or other designates. Alerts can be sent to cell phones, e-mails, pagers and web pages. UNM subscribers will be allowed to enter up to two cell telephone numbers and two e-mail addresses.
“There is an area on UNM’s home page to subscribe. It takes about a minute to fill out the form and to signup. Initially, the system is only for emergency notifications,” said Paula Loendorf, Telecommunications director.
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at April 26, 2007 12:21 PM