Every college and university needs a crisis plan

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Yesterday’s horrific happenings at Virginia Tech reinforced my belief that every college and university needs a crisis response & communications plan in place. And, as Ron Alsop’s article (subscription required) points out in today’s Wall Street Journal, schools need to simulate various potential scenarios in order to gauge their ability to react and respond.

Yesterday’s two-hour gap at V-Tech between the first and second series of shootings is a good Vt_3 indication of why crisis planning is needed. While all the facts aren’t known, one thing is clear: the only student communication came in the form of an e-mail some two hours after the first shooting. How many lives could have been saved if university officials had practiced response procedures in advance? What if they knew exactly what to do and how to communicate it?

VT administrators are in full spin doctoring right now, trying to defend their decisions. But, clearly, angry parents and others will demand changes in the massacre’s aftermath.

I believe more and more parents will be demanding that their children’s schools have a crisis plan in place. It’s not just a discussion about campus security. It’s now part of every college’s image and reputation, and each and every one should take the time to prepare and report back to parents on those preparations. A good crisis plan — and regular examination of it — not only makes students safer but also contributes to the overall image, an important and differentiating factor in recruitment, fund-raising, etc.

Sadly, as was the case in the private sector with 9/11, it has to take a mega disaster to get the attention of the powers that be before changes are made.

3 thoughts on “Every college and university needs a crisis plan”

  2. What does it also say that it takes VT leadership 2 hours to alert students of a shooting death on campus, yet only 30 min to announce when classes are cancelled for weather reasons? I guess 9mm snowflakes are more dangerous than 9mm bullets.

  3. I agree that more and more parents will ask and need to ask about crisis preparation when they tour the colleges with their children. As a parent of a college-aged student and another close behind, my initial security question to the schools we visited was always focused on security measures — campus police, the “blue” help phones, etc. Now, that’s changed. With my daughter approaching college age, I need to ask what crisis plans they have in place. Times have changed, and colleges need to respond.