|
Area colleges, universities
reiterate safety policies
Virginia Tech massacre prompts inquiries
In the wake of the shooting rampage at Virginia Polytechnic Institute earlier this week in Blacksburg, Va., Charlotte Weekly checked with Queen City colleges and universities about their campus warning systems.
UNC Charlotte
“Our campus recently installed and successfully tested a warning siren which provides a warning sound and verbal messages to people who are outdoors on campus in the event of an imminent emergency,” said Philip Dubois, the school’s chancellor. “Emergencies may include weather-related threats, hazardous materials releases, or acts or threats of violence. In the case of an incident such as the one at Virginia Tech, the university has the capability to broadcast a warning sound and message within minutes of confirming a threat. Simple instructions on responding to the warning siren can be found online.”
UNC Charlotte maintains an emergency response plan that outlines procedures to follow in a variety of emergencies. In concert with the warning siren, the university can communicate to students, staff and faculty through:
• campus advisories posted at www.uncc.edu;
• broadcast e-mails;
• broadcast voicemail;
• a weather hotline, which can be adapted for other emergencies;
• scrolling warnings and updates on Channel 22, the university’s television station;
• messages provided via intercoms in some classrooms; and
• messages distributed to media outlets.
Central Piedmont Community College
On its Web site this week, CPCC employees were reminded to review the school’s “All Hazards Emergency Response Plan.” The new emergency services Web site includes the entire plan, evacuation plans for each campus, information on the building captain program and more. The crisis communications plan also is outlined.
In the event of an emergency, information would be e-mailed to all employees and students, posted on the CPCC Web site and included on CPCC TV.
College officials are continuously reviewing the emergency response plan to ensure it provides the greatest amount of security possible for students and employees, according to the school’s Web site.
The school’s home page also addresses what to do in the event of fire or smoke, criminal behavior or receipt of a bomb threat or suspicious package.
Queens University of Charlotte
Brian Ralph, vice president for enrollment management at Queens University of Charlotte, said that the school, which enrolls 1,688 undergraduate students, has an emergency plan that uses a crisis response team, e-mail blasts, immediate Web page updates and an emergency telephone hotline for students and parents.
“We obviously have an emergency plan in place that allows us to deal with any situation, although I’m not sure any school could be prepared for such a tragedy similar to that of Virginia Tech,” said Ralph.
The school official added that Queens also uses an “emergency phone call protocol” system to contact residential advisors in dormitories and professional staff who live on campus and can interact with students quickly.
“We do have a very good crisis response system in place. All of our resident halls require computer card access so we can limit access to buildings if need be,” said Ralph, adding that students do participate in fire drills and evacuation plans each semester.
“Frankly, being a much smaller campus, information can be filtered to our students much more quickly than, say, the situation with Virginia Tech with such a large campus and student population,” he said. “We do have the luxury of being a small campus.”
– Compiled by Kathleen E. Conroy
|
