The University of Memphis

Crisis Management Planning

POLICIES

The President of The University of Memphis has primary responsibility for effectively managing any crisis which might occur on or affect the University of Memphis campus.

The University of Memphis Crisis Management Plan (CMP) shall formally establish and document a coordinated plan for managing crises which may arise in spite of all mitigation efforts. This plan will be designed to provide a flexible framework for crisis management rather than step-by-step directions for handling any and every conceivable crisis.

Only the President or designee can declare that a crisis exists, thereby activating the Crisis Management Plan.

The Vice President for Business & Finance is responsible for ensuring that the CMP is development and maintained. University departments involved in crisis management are responsible for developing internal procedures and training personnel as necessary to support the plan.  The plan shall be periodically reviewed and regularly exercised.

The purpose of Crisis Management Planning is to provide (a) a leadership framework for crisis management and (b) response and recovery procedures with sufficient flexibility to accommodate contingencies of various types and magnitude. Overall objectives are to:

• Protect and preserve human life, health and well-being.
• Minimize damage to the natural environment.
• Minimize loss, damage or disruption to the University’s facilities, resources and operations.
• Ensure appropriate communications and notifications within the University, the community, and beyond.
• Elicit a response which is appropriate to the magnitude of the crisis.

This leadership framework for crisis management is designed to provide an organizational structure capable of responding to various levels of emergencies ranging in complexity. It also provides the flexibility needed to respond to an incident as it escalates in severity. Because of this flexibility, the leadership framework for crisis management may not resemble the day-to-day organizational structure of the University. Employees may report to other employees to whom they do not usually have a reporting relationship. Further, assignments and reporting relationships may change as crisis conditions change.

The Crisis Management Team (CMT) coordinates the campus response to and recovery from major crises.

The CMT is composed of two teams or groups – the Policy Group and the Operations Group.

Role of Policy Group (CMT-Policy):

• Defines Crisis Policy
• Approves overall priorities & strategies
• Issues public information reports & instructions
• Determines program closures and resumptions
• Plans and prioritizes long term recovery

Role of Operations Group (CMT-Operations):

• Determines the scope and impact of the incident
• Prioritizes emergency actions
• Deploys and coordinates resources and equipment
• Communicates critical information and instructions
• Monitors and reevaluates conditions
• Coordinates with government agencies

Membership in the CMT-Policy Group will consist of the University's senior leadership (the Executive Officers, Legal Counsel, Director of Communications Services, and others as needed depending on the nature of the crisis). Membership in the CMT-Operations Group will include but not be limited to senior representatives from the following areas: Academic Affairs, Communications Services, Environmental Health & Safety, Human Resources, Physical Plant, Public Safety, Residence Life, Student Affairs, and Telecommunications.

Each member of the CMT will have a designated primary and secondary back-up.

The Incident Commander has overall responsibility for the management of all operational activities related to the crisis, including the coordination of operational activities with external agencies and post event assessment. University response under any crisis is normally directed by the University Police; the Director of Public Safety or designee will therefore normally assume Incident Command. Incident command may be ceded by University Public Safety to representatives of Physical Plant, Environmental Health and Safety, Student Health Services or other University units, as the situation warrants. In addition, command may be ceded to the governmental agency with the broadest jurisdictional authority (e.g., Memphis Fire Department, the Memphis and Shelby County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), among others) for that incident.  

The organizational structure of the CMT is:

The Vice President for Business & Finance is responsible for ensuring that the crisis management plan is developed and maintained.

The maintenance and further development of the plan must be a shared responsibility, involving many departments and units across campus. The Vice President for Business & Finance shall appoint a CMP Coordinator to facilitate that work.

Each unit or department identified as having a role in this CMP is responsible for communicating the content of the CMP to its staff. Each administrative and academic unit shall develop their own crisis plans. These plans will outline strategies for protecting department personnel and programs, and for coordinating with the whole. The Vice President for Business & Finance or designee shall develop a common framework for this purpose.

The CMP shall be reviewed annually by the Crisis Management Team-Operations Group and be modified as necessary. Results of the reviews and any changes to the CMP shall be reported to the President for approval. Semiannual exercises shall be held to (1) train CMT members and other personnel and (2) evaluate the adequacy of the CMP.  A report on each exercise shall be prepared and submitted to the President.

As potential crises emerge, any member of the CMT-Operations Group may convene the Group to prepare hazard-specific plans.

Communications with Campus Community

Mechanisms to communicate with the campus community during a time of crisis will be identified, developed and maintained as one part of the University's CMP.

Communications with Media

The University of Memphis Crisis Communications Plan (a component of the University's CMP) establishes procedures related to communications with external audiences (i.e., media, community, etc.). In line with this plan, a Public Information Center will be established in the event of a University crisis. The Director of Communications Services is responsible for developing procedures related to the development of such a Center.

CMT Communications

Notification and communication systems will be developed and maintained as one part of the University's CMP.