Five years on, as it said it would, AUCSO has updated its guide to emergency management in universities, now titled Resilience in High Education. Bernie Duncan, the former uni head of security who now is the chief operating officer of AUCSO, the association for university chiefs of security, spoke to Mark Rowe.
The new title reflects a change in emphasis and the rise of the term ‘resilience’. As Bernie said: “I think the terminology nowadays is for organisations being more resilient, and that is the Government push, as well.” She added that it is for smaller organisations, and SMEs. to look to their own internal structures, and their own resilience, rather than relying on local councils or central Government when something happens. “The bottom line is, you have to do it yourself. Get on with it, really.”
The updated document shows the sheer variety of man-made and natural emergencies that can affect a university and its campuses. New case studies are from a United States shooting; and the University of Aberysthwyth, which earlier this year had to close some halls of residence because of flooding. Lucy Easthope, the academic who wrote the original guide, did the update. New material includes new website links, new legislation in the field to consider, and new templates for security managers to use. AUCSO members can download them individually from the association website. View also the Emergency Planning College website (epcollege.com) and hebcon.org (Higher Education Business Continuity Network).
The update was launched at a seminar at Aston University on July 30, when Dr Lucy Easthope gave a session on the legal aspects of planning for emergencies; and Bernie Duncan spoke on crisis communications – how to get messages to staff and students, and use of social media. The seminar will be repeated on September 17, at the University of Edinburgh.
As for how to do resilience on campus, Bernie spoke of an all-hazards approach. She said: “When you are making your plans, it’s not the cause, it’s the consequence that is what you have to deal with; and the most important thing is the needs of people. We have thousands of students either at the campus, or living on campus; so when something happens it’s the needs of people that are the most important thing.” And that is true whether the hazard is a flood or someone suffering from a stress disorder and affecting others. Power outages are another concern, she added; ‘if students cannot charge up their laptop, they will be upset. How do you charge up a mobile phone when the power is off?! Simple stuff, but it has a huge effect.” And while the UK has not seen gun violence on campuses as in the United States – ‘fortunately’ Bernie adds – it has been a subject for AUCSO at recent conferences, as it’s one thing to prepare for, ‘because the impact is very powerful and emotional’.
Another particular risk to the university sector is over health, namely the Ebola outbreak, ‘because we have students from all over the world and going backwards and forwards; so you just don’t know when, will Ebola hit the UK’.
Asked how campus emergency management and planning compares with other sectors such as healthcare and retail – and campuses may well have shops and training hospitals – Bernie made the point that most universities, unlike other sectors, are responsible for residences; perhaps up to 8000 students. Even if something drastic happens and perhaps 60 per cent of students are sent home, that still leaves 40pc, perhaps from overseas, who the uni still has to look after. Due to fees, students have come to feel more of a ‘contract’ between themselves and the academic institution they are paying for higher education. An emergency even out of anyone’s hands due to extreme weather, if it interrupts teaching for long, might cause some students to feel that their university is in breach of contract. Might such students sue their university?! Again, that’s something seen more in the United States, but it is possible, Bernie says. She makes the point that if a retailer has to close a store, the retailer loses earnings, for a day or two or however long the emergency; ‘but it’s unlikely that anyone is going to sue’.
That said, there is evidence of students as in other cases of emergencies, being willing to rally round. Unis, also, have consulted with students affected by an emergency, in the Aberystwyth flooding case, for example. And there is more awareness among uni staff generally of resilience. Bernie recalls that the subject has come a long way since the so-called Millennium Bug, which was feared at the very end of 1999, when many felt the need to plan in case computers failed when turning to January 1, 2000. Computer crashes never happened at the Millennium, but as Bernie says it gave food for thought and began interest in the subject. “In the last 14 years we have come a long way, but there’s till more to do, I have to say.”
Visit www.aucso.org.uk.
For the document in pdf visit – http://www.hebcon.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Resilience-in-Higher-Education-Institutions.compressed.pdf
