NDSU has been awarded a $412,352 grant under the Emergency Management for Higher Education Program to develop a comprehensive emergency management plan. Called the Ready Campus Initiative, the planning will prepare the campus in the event of emergency situations such as weather catastrophes, pandemics or terrorism events.
The project officially began on July 1 and runs through Dec. 31, 2010. Carol Cwiak, lecturer of sociology, anthropology and emergency management, is the principal investigator on the award, with Daniel Klenow, professor and chair of sociology, anthropology and emergency management, serving as co-investigator.
NDSU will institute a four-phase plan of prevention-mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. According to Cwiak, it will include extensive collaboration with community partners.
“Front-end dialogue and planning can help us create a plan that we can then train and exercise so we can prepare our people on campus to respond appropriately if we are at risk or in jeopardy. They will know what actions to take in an event to protect themselves and others,” explained Cwiak. “It just makes good sense, because we know emergencies and disasters are going to happen.”
In addition to the comprehensive emergency management plan, the funds will be used to increase the number of staff members with National Incident Management System training, conduct a series of test exercises and integrate emergency management policies into publications and communication channels.
“We are being pro-active and thinking ahead, so that when the inevitable happens we will be better prepared to better handle it,” Cwiak said.
Klenow said a project director will be hired and more than $90,000 is budgeted for graduate students to serve as project team members. He said the grant follows the recently completed Disaster Resistant University project.
North Dakota’s Congressional delegation noted the importance of the latest grant, which is distributed by the U.S. Department of Education.
“As Fargo saw first-hand this spring, emergency preparedness is essential when disaster strikes,” Sen. Kent Conrad, Sen. Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy said in a joint statement. “Located in the heart of North Dakota's largest city, NDSU's emergency preparedness is paramount to the safety of Fargo in the event of a disaster. These funds will help NDSU develop a comprehensive emergency management plan to ensure they are ready to respond should a catastrophe occur.”
Ray Boyer, director of the University Police and Safety Office, said, “The grant not only allows for the collaborative efforts of academic and operational units to get an ever increasing important job done at NDSU, but also opens the door for further emergency preparedness, response and continuum of operations for other institutions within the university system in North Dakota and across the country. The templates developed through this work at NDSU will be invaluable going forward to allow others to develop emergency programs without re-inventing the wheel with limited resources.”
July 13, 2009