Axe ’Em, Jacks!
The University of Texas Police Department at SFA's emergency management team provides guidance and response to all-hazard emergency situations that occur on the SFA campus or have the potential to affect the campus community. Our focus is to:
- increase the administrative capabilities of emergency responders
- ensure the campus is well prepared for emergencies
- and assist in educating the campus community in emergency preparedness.
Emergency Operations Plan
The university provides HOP policy 05-506 and the Emergency Operations Plan as an all-hazard emergency management guidance.
Recognizing it isn't always obvious at the outset of an event whether the incident will be minor and contained or an initial phase of a rapidly growing threat, the plan is built upon scalable, flexible and adaptable coordinating systems to align key roles and responsibilities across the university when an emergency occurs.
Founded on the principles of the National Incident Management System, the plan decides authorities and describes practices for managing and coordinating the response to incidents that range from the serious but purely isolated, to large-scale incidents and natural disasters.
When the need occurs, implementation of this plan requires cooperation, collaboration and information sharing among all university departmentsand any external agencies that may assist the university during major emergencies and disasters.
Emergency Operations Center
The Emergency Operations Center is activated whenever an emergency situation exceeds the capabilities of normal operations and immediate action is required to save and protect lives; coordinate communications; prevent damage to the environment, systems and property; provide essential services; temporarily assign university staff members to perform emergency work; and/or invoke emergency authorizations to procure and allocate resources.
Upon activation, EOC staff members will report to the EOC. The president, vice president, chief of police and Emergency Management director may activate the EOC. The EOC is typically activated via telephone recall and/or text messages using the university mass notification system. The EOC consolidates decision makers to ensure the flow of information and the development of response strategies. Other organizations involved in the response to an emergency may be called upon to provide a representative in the EOC.
The general roles and responsibilities of the EOC:
- Provide and collect accurate information regarding the emergency situation and current resource data to allow an on-scene official to make informed decisions on courses of action.
- Determine and prioritize required response actions and coordinate their implementation by working with representatives of emergency services.
- Provide resource support for emergency operations.
- Provide emergency information to the public as warranted.
The EOC will also coordinate with the City of Nacogdoches and Nacogdoches County Unified or Joint Command, as appropriate.
Emergency Management Committee
Function
The Emergency Management Committee is a university-wide committee consisting of representatives from across the institutional. The committee's mission is to collaborate on emergency management strategies and initiatives designed to enhance preparedness and improve the university's ability to respond to, and recover from, all threats.
Scope of Authority
The purview of the committee is limited to matters that pertain to the EOP's prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation strategies.
Responsibilities
- Continuously analyze all risks which expose the university to potential disruption of activities, including risks that are natural and man-made.
- Oversee the development of emergency preparedness and response plans in response to the risks identified.
- Present university-wide emergency response plans to the vice president of finance and administration for approval and further presentation to the executive group for approval to implement.
- Assist with the development of emergency response plans for operational units, and for ensure they align with the university-wide plan.
- Facilitate communication of the EOP through updates to the appropriate website and written materials as needed.
- Design and conduct two internal disaster drills per year, with one of the drills to include participation by external emergency response agencies.
- Develop training materials and facilitate the appropriate training for the university community.
- Serve as the university's emergency response team, managing the university's response to an emergency.
- Annual review of existing emergency management plans and related policies and procedures, with changes to be recommended to the VPBA for approval and further presentation to the executive group.
- Record minutes and distribute them to its membership.
Reporting Structure
The committee reports through its chairperson to the VPBA on all matters related to its charge. The VPBA represents, and serves as the liaison to the executive group (senior officers) of the university. The overall authority and responsibility for the EOP rest with the executive group, which provides support and direction to the committee. The chairperson of the EMC will be appointed by the VPBA.
Committee Chair
Jeremy Pickett, director, Emergency Management
Co-chair
John Fields, Jr., executive director/UTS-SFA police department chief of police
Committee representatives:
The following departments will be represented on the Emergency Management Committee:
- President's Office - Damon Derrick, chief of staff
- Organizational Effectiveness - Gina Oglesbee, senior vice president for organizational effectiveness
- Student Affairs - Dr. Andrew Dies, assistant vice president of student affairs and dean of students
- Physical Plant - John Branch, assistant vice president of facilities services and operations
- Safety, Environmental Health and Risk Management - Dr. Jeremy Higgins, executive director
- Student Services/Residence Life - Dr. Michara DeLaney-Fields, interim vice president of student affairs
- Information Technology Services - Mike Coffee, vice president IT/chief information officer
- University Marketing Communications – Korbin Pate, executive director of university marketing and communications
- Academic Affairs - Dr. Lorenzo Smith, executive vice president for academic affairs/provost
- Athletics – Michael McBroom, athletics director
- Advancement - Jill Still, vice president for advancement
Additional ad-hoc consultants (i.e. legal, consultants) can be engaged to assist when needed.
The representative from each unit should be a key administrator for the operational area represented, thereby facilitating timely decisions. Due to the number of operational areas represented, each area is limited to one representative, with one alternate to participate when the regular representative is not available.
Meeting Schedule
The Emergency Management Committee will hold regular quarterly meetings, and may meet more often if the need arises.
Related Policy
Campus Emergency Response Team volunteers
The campus police and Emergency Management are seeking dedicated individuals who wish to volunteer in limited capacities to aid first responders during disaster situations, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks. Duties and responsibilities will include basic fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operation assistance during or after major weather events. No prior experience is required.
Qualifications
- Must be at least 18 years of age
- Students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher
Requirements
- Mandatory training
- Background check
- Signed waiver
- Volunteer commitment