University Business Policies and Procedures Manual

6130
EMERGENCY CONTROL
Effective Date: July 1, 2001
Revised:  08/01/06, 10/01/09

Authorized by Regents' Policy 7.14 "Risk Management and Insurance" 
Process Owner:  University Emergency Manager

1. General

The University of New Mexico has an obligation to conduct its education, business, clinical, and support activities on a regular basis and will remain open unless conditions exist which may endanger the University community or impact the ability to operate. This policy describes the response of the University during such an event which shall be referred to as an incident. In cases of a weather related emergency, this policy may supplement the "Inclement Weather" Policy 3435, UBP.

This policy describes the responsibilities of staff, faculty, and students at University entities in the city of Albuquerque during an incident.  Although this policy is specifically designed for Albuquerque, in the event of an emergency at any of the branch campuses or Rio Rancho facilities , main campus Emergency Operations Center personnel are ready to provide support and technical assistance.  To facilitate this capability, each branch campus shall maintain an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) as described in Section 3.1. herein.  Branch campuses shall work with the UNM Emergency Manager to coordinate and integrate their Emergency Operations Plans with the University's EOP. 

2. Authority to Allocate Resources Including Personnel

The President has designated the Executive Vice President for Administration/CFO/COO as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Director.  The EOC Director is authorized to implement whatever measures are necessary to protect life and property from the effects of an incident. This includes the commitment and use of University personnel, equipment, and financial resources, and calling for assistance from other organizations, as may be required in her/his judgment to cope with the  incident.  Only the President can modify the EOC Director's emergency control orders.

3. Emergency Control

The University will conduct incident response in accordance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/index.shtm, the National Response Framework (NRF) http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nrf/, and the Incident Command System (ICS) http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/ICSResource/index.htm. 

3.1. Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)

To minimize the adverse effects of an incident, the University has developed an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) which serves as the framework of incident response.  The EOP will be implemented when the University and/or its surrounding community has been subjected to an incident which exceeds or has a negative impact on the resources normally available. 

The UNM Emergency Manager is responsible for coordination, maintenance and exercise of the EOP.  Any University department which identifies a need for a plan specific to its operation must work with the UNM Emergency Manager to assure that its plan is coordinated and updated with the University's EOP. 

3.2. Emergency Management Committee

The UNM Emergency Management Committee (EMC), chaired by the Executive Vice President for Administration/CFO/COO, is composed of representatives from major areas of the University appointed by the Executive Vice President for Administration/CFO/COO. The Committee is responsible for ensuring that the University is prepared to deal with any incident.

3.3. Emergency Declaration and Immediate Response

Anyone who encounters an emergency situation should take immediate steps to protect themselves, notify nearby endangered people, and call 911 to initiate the University's emergency response systems.  If the UNM Police Department determines that the situation is or will become an incident, they will notify the Executive Vice President for Administration/CFO/COO (or designee).  Depending on the nature of the incident, the Police will notify the appropriate individuals listed in the Emergency Operations Plan and the applicable Hazard Specific Appendix being activated. In addition, the Chief of Police and the Executive Vice President for Administration/CFO/COO, will immediately decide if an incident will be declared. If an incident is declared, the Executive Vice President for Administration/CFO/COO will notify the President and the Emergency Operations Plan will be implemented.

3.4. Emergency Operations Center

Support of incident response under the Incident Command System will be centralized in an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The primary role of an EOC is to bring together all relevant information about the incident in one place, organize that information into a useful format, and facilitate the coordination of resources needed to respond to the incident. The EOC will be located away from the areas of highest activity so as to avoid interference with their operations, yet the EOC will be close enough to provide reasonable access to current information. The EOC is designed with redundant forms of communication available, is capable of twenty-four (24) hour operations, and will be secured from unauthorized access. Both a primary EOC and back-up location have been designated.

Activation of the EOC may occur under any of the following circumstances:

• the size of the incident requires logistical support beyond that available on-scene;
• the incident is of long duration; or
• the magnitude of the incident requires external resources or implementation of unified command.

The primary EOC Director is the Executive Vice President for Administration/CFO/COO. Upon activation, the EOC Director has full authority to make decisions and implement tactics necessary for the prompt and efficient response to the  incident.

4. Notifying the Campus

In the event of a significant incident, the University Communication and Marketing Department will coordinate efforts to inform faculty, staff, students, and the public of the conditions.  The announcements will specify what portion of the University is impacted or closed due to the incident. Other University departments, such as the Athletic Department and Public Events are responsible for advising their customers about the status of events if an incident has been declared.

5. Work Schedules During Emergency

The effectiveness of UNM emergency control depends upon the total support and rapid response of all personnel. The EOC Director will determine which employees play a critical role in emergency control and which employees are required to leave their worksite for safety reasons. These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and may affect only a portion of the University. Employees not affected by the incident will remain at their normal duty station and follow their normal work schedule.

5.1. Critical Employees

Employees designated as critical are expected to give their full support and attention to emergency control. They will be paid for hours worked (including overtime for non-exempt employees if forty [40] hours per work week is exceeded). In addition, to acknowledge their dedication and support both exempt and non-exempt employees will be granted additional compensatory time off, at the straight-time rate, for actual hours worked during the incident. Compensatory time taken in such cases is not considered time worked for overtime compensation purposes.  If due to the nature of the incident compensatory time cannot be taken in accordance with the time limits listed in Section 2.3. "Compensatory Time" Policy 3310, UBP, an extension may be approved by the cognizant dean, director, or department head.

5.2. Non-critical Employees Required to Leave the Work Site

Employees required to leave their worksite for safety reasons will report their time off as paid administrative leave. This time is not considered time worked for overtime compensation purposes. Employees on previously approved sick or annual leave or on a shift assignment or working in an area not affected by the incident are not eligible for the paid administrative leave.

 6. Final Exam Week

 If emergency control is enacted during final exam week resulting in the cancellation of an exam, instructors may elect one of the following options:

• Assign as final grades the current grades that students have going into final exam week.
  
• Make provisions for students whose exams are canceled to contact them for the re-scheduling of a make-up exam or alternative arrangements.
  
• As a last resort, choose to assign incomplete grades. 

7.  Point of Contact

Questions or comments regarding this policy may be addressed to the UNM Emergency Manager through the University Police Department (505) 277-2241.

Comments may be sent to UBPPM@UNM.edu
http://www.unm.edu/~ubppm