Crisis Management / Emergency Preparedness
Saint Peter’s University has developed our Emergency Operations Plan to address the proper procedures for dealing with various emergencies occurring on, or in close proximity to campus. This Emergency Operations Plan provides guidelines for dealing with an immediate emergency, as well as plans and proactive steps to properly prepare for emergency events that affect the safety and security of our University.
This plan utilizes an “All Hazards Approach” to emergency response, utilizing the Incident Command Structure. The plan addresses proper training of students and staff for dealing with specific types of emergencies. Essential components of this plan include evacuation procedures, lockdowns, sheltering in place, fire prevention and response, active shooter protocols and response, hazardous materials and dealing with environmental and pandemic events.
The purpose of the Saint Peter’s University Emergency Operations Plan, is to establish policies, procedures and the organizational structure for managing emergencies on campus. The plan describes the roles and responsibilities of the various departments, units and personnel of the University during an emergency.
The Emergency Operations Plan sets forth operating procedures utilizing the Incident Command System (ICS) model, as adopted by Saint Peter’s University for handling emergencies. This Emergency Operations Plan is the official plan for Saint Peter’s University and supersedes previous plans and precludes individual actions not in concert with the intent of this plan. Nothing in the plan shall be construed in a manner that limits the use of good judgment and common sense in matters not foreseen or covered by this plan or any appendices hereto. This plan shall be subordinate to State or Federal plans during a declared emergency.
Emergency Communications
Emergency Text messaging System:
The Emergency Operations Plan includes the Communication Plan, which enables the University to make timely notifications to the campus community in the event of an emergency. When an emergency occurs on or in close proximity to campus and requires immediate notifications to be made to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff. The University employs the RAVE Emergency Notifications System, www.saintpeters.edu/campus-safety/alerts that delivers a three prong message when activated. The three prongs are voicemail, email and text messages to cellular phones. This system is a critical component of our emergency notifications system, in that, it is capable of sending critical emergency notifications to all registered recipients, even in the event of power outage when use of computers, email and or voicemail are not possible. The Director of Campus Safety or his designee will be charged with distributing text messages to the University community.
Website updates
The University Webmaster and Director of University Communications will manage the Emergency Preparedness web site. They are responsible for maintaining and updating the Web site. The most recent information regarding the status of operations and activities will be posted at www.saintpeters.edu. This information will mirror the information that is being disseminated via the text messaging system. Information posted on the web site is always time-stamped, so those accessing the site are aware of the timeliness of the information. The date and time of the next scheduled major update will also be posted on this Web site so recipients will know when to check back for major updates regarding openings, closings, and other important information.
E-Mail Messages
The MS Exchange e-mail messaging service is managed by the Department of Information Technology and Director of University Communications. As soon as the University begins monitoring a potential emergency, or if an emergency is imminent, an e-mail message will be sent to all faculty, staff, and students on all campuses of the University.