Disaster planning 101: from presidents and provosts: the lessons of disaster. (In The News).

On the heels of September 11, a recent audio conference presented by the Society of College and University Planners (www.scup.org) provided some serious disaster-planning insight--and highlighted gaping holes in many IHEs' strategic planning. Herewith, highlights of that discussion. Panelists:

* David Caputo, president of Manhattan's Pace University (still dealing with the reverberations of the September 11 terrorist attacks)

* Kendall Baker, president, Ohio Northern University (ONU was forced to close three weeks before graduation 1997, because of the Grand Forks Flood)

* Louanne Kennedy, provost, California State University (Cal State suffered devastating earthquake damage in 1994)

* Richard Schinoff, president, Miami Dade Community College (heavily damaged by Hurricane Andrew, nine years ago).

In response to disaster, what was the single, most helpful decision?

Caputo: To be flexible. Our strategic evacuation plan is exactly that, to evacuate. Stilt, I decided early not to evacuate, but to retain the students and faculty in the building. We were four blocks from the World Trade Center towers, and when they began to come down, we were not certain that our buildings would remain unaffected by blasts. In retrospect, we made the right decision, but it was clearly not following the plan.

What would you do differently, if you could?

Caputo: Our single biggest problem was that we lacked communications redundancy. Prior to 9/11, we had no reason to believe that cell service in the New York metropolitan area would be so disrupted in a disaster. But when the Twin Towers came down, our voice communications were brought to a halt, and we didn't have backups in place for our Internet capability, either. If we had lost our internal e-mail, we would have been completely out of luck. Even with it, there was no campus-wide public-address system in place for those who didn't have e-mail. We have a number of linked towers and buildings, with a public-address system in each tower, but none are integrated. That was a real problem: In some of our classrooms, people could not hear the public address system, and we should have known that sooner. By late spring, we will have a single, integrated public-address system.

How does a campus make academically sound, equitable decisions when exams and such are interrupted or canceled?

Baker: In the spring that ONU lost graduation, students who were scheduled to complete their degree in May were encouraged to come back in August and go through the graduation ceremony. They didn't have to, but they could. Our academic deans agreed there would be no final exams; students would receive whatever grade was in place before we closed the university. Or, students could opt to lake an incomplete, and work with faculty in the fall to address that incomplete. In courses that are prerequisites, our faculty provided makeup classes at the beginning of the fall semester.

How do you prevent enrollment calamities after a disaster?

Baker: Communication. We heard predictions that we would lose 5,000 students even if we could open for summer or fall. In the period after the floodwaters began to recede, the principal focus of the university was enrollment. I personally went and spoke with students in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin who had been planning to come to UND, or who were worried about coming back.

Cal State recovered from an earthquake in a manner that actually helped the school leverage long-term goals. What changed after the disaster? Kennedy: We developed a motto, "Not just back, but better." One of the first things we did was set up arrangements with K-12 schools to hold our College of Education classes on their sites. As a result of that, those classes continue to be held on-site at those schools, and relationships with our public schools are very strong. In fact we are building a new high school on campus in the next year, and that relationship would not have been possible eight years ago.

We've also reallocated space to new priorities, since the earthquake. For instance, we combined all the student services that were scattered around the campus, and relocated them in one building.

In disaster planning, how can schools coordinate with federal, state, or local agencies, without losing control of the campus?

Schinoff: When you are considering your disaster plan, you need to ask, "How can outside agencies come to my campus and help the community with recovery, but at the same time not impede the campus from opening up again? You have to physically locate the members of the agencies somewhere where they won't disrupt the academic core. On our Homestead campus, for instance, we asked the Army put up buildings and tents on the outer edge of the campus, and we let them use our bathroom facilities. It's hard to plan ahead with these entities, because you don't know which particular Army or National Guard unit will be coming to your region. But we are in constant communication with the authorities regarding what we need to do if another hurricane hits.

What can college and university presidents do to make sure a plan is relevant when disaster strikes? Kennedy: Hold regular drills, with the president present at each and every one. We had actually conducted a drill the Tuesday before the Thursday the tornado hit. Thank God for that timing. Students had the particulars fresh in their minds, and it might not have been that way, without that drill. Drills on a regular basis are critical, especially in campus housing.