Emergency Planning
Effective emergency planning is essential to the safety and continuity of university operations. This page provides guidance on developing emergency plans for your department/office. This includes Emergency Action Plans (EAP) and PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency) strategies, outlining a structured planning process to assess risks, establish response protocols, and enhance departmental preparedness for any situation.
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Emergency Action Plan
An Emergency Action Plan (EAP) is a critical framework designed to help university departments prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. EAPs outline key procedures for evacuation, communication, and coordination during crises, ensuring a swift and organized response to protect students, faculty, staff, and university assets. By identifying potential risks, assigning roles and responsibilities, and establishing clear response protocols, EAPs enhance preparedness and resilience.
View and Download EAP Templates
Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)
A Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) at a university is a strategic framework designed to ensure that essential functions can continue during and after a disruption, such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, or other emergencies. A COOP outlines procedures for maintaining critical academic, administrative, and operational services, including remote learning capabilities, data protection, and campus safety measures. A well-structured COOP minimizes downtime, protects resources, and ensures a swift recovery, allowing the university to maintain its mission of education and research despite unforeseen challenges.
Communications Continuity (PACE)
PACE planning (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency) is a structured approach to ensuring reliable communication, operations, and decision-making during emergencies. By identifying multiple layers of response strategies, PACE helps university departments maintain continuity even when primary systems fail. The framework prioritizes a designated Primary method, establishes an Alternate backup, prepares a Contingency option if the first two are unavailable, and ensures an Emergency solution as a last resort. This proactive planning model strengthens resilience, reduces downtime, and enhances preparedness by ensuring that critical functions can adapt to any situation.