University administrators across the U.S. are realizing that improving campuses’ resistance to disasters will not only protect the lives of students, faculty, and staff, but will also shield the campus from severe disruption of instruction, research, and public service. By developing a Disaster Resistant University Plan—a pre-disaster plan that focuses on mitigation—campuses can minimize campus disruptions, protect university research, control insurance rates, and reduce damage to facilities.
Phases of Disaster Resistant University Plans
Organize Resources
Gather disparate segments of the university community to create a consolidated leadership team that will champion the development and implementation of a Disaster Resistant planning effort.
Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment
Work with public works, facilities planning, community and residential life, research leaders, and medical facilities, to identify areas most prone to damages, flooding, debris, power disruptions, loss of service, or critical to university life. Areas can be prioritized in terms of criticality, cost, timeliness, dollars invested, measurable impact, or disruption on normal academic scheduling..
Developing the Mitigation Plan
Analyze the data to identify gaps and vulnerabilities in order to address identified issues in order of decreasing significance to the university community. Mitigation projects and approaches are identified to address those issues, along with a benefit-cost analysis to demonstrate that the costs of implementation pay for themselves over time.
Adoption and Implementation
Disaster Resistant University Plans are only effective if put into action. The original leadership team should be empowered and supported by the university leaders to engage these programs throughout all renovations, repairs, new construction, planning, and disaster response activities.
Benefits of Creating a Plan
By establishing a Disaster Resistant Plan, universities are able to get pre-approval through the state and FEMA, maximizing time and resources through schedules and preparation, generally leading to maximum reimbursements and quick project approvals. Having holistic Disaster Resistant Plans in place, mitigation efforts are more effective and increase the overall protection and resilience of the university community.
With thorough preparation, universities can navigate common challenges presented during disaster events, and by implementing a system of checks and balances, and utilizing proper documentation, they can better prepare for the unknown.
Funding
Producing a disaster resistant university plan is a significant cost-saving strategy, considering mitigation efforts typically realize a four-fold return on every dollar spent.
Universities can apply for a variety of grant funding programs (FEMA, HMGP, UASI) allowing them to be better prepared to respond and recover from major disasters or emergencies declared by the president. Each year, federal research grants given to universities total approximately $15-billion with the federal government typically only requiring a 25 percent match of funds to implement.
In just a few years of adding mitigation efforts in a systemic way, university communities will quickly realize the benefits of being better prepared against disruptions to academic life, loss of research, damage to facilities, and high repair and reconstruction costs.