Most universities and college campuses across the United States are engaged in developing policies, programs, and systems to reduce risks and maintain safety and security on their campuses. This article identifies key factors such as all-hazards comprehensive emergency plans, continuity of operations plans, emergency information management, leadership support, community partnerships, and training and certification programs that are important for creating disaster-resilient institutions and assessing how different colleges and universities across the country have developed and incorporated these key essentials to prepare for effective disaster response. Results show that developing an all-hazards plan, conducting regular training and exercises, and developing strong community partnerships are the most important elements for creating a disaster-resilient university, well prepared to tackle any calamity or tragedy.
Keywordsdisaster resiliency, culture of preparedness, emergency information management, campus emergency management, continuity of operations planning administrators were proposed after this tragedy (Flynn & Heitzmann, 2008). At the federal level, Congress made additional revisions to the Clery Act in 2008 by incorporating the requirement of developing and implementing emergency response plans across campuses. Immediate notification to students, faculty, and staff about an emergency is also part of this amendment, provided that this does not create conditions that aggravate the emergency (Drysdale, Modzeleski, & Simons, 2010).Many events outside of campus boundaries have also had a deep impact on campus communities in the recent past. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 affected 31 colleges and universities out of which many played a significant role in providing response and rescue resources for disaster victims. As a result of this event, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under the Presidential Directive-5, now requires universities to create and develop emergency plans that are compliant with the National Incident Management System (NIMS; Edwards & Goodrich, 2009).
Kapucu and Khosa
5These recent incidents reflect the diverse nature of threats and risks permeating universities and colleges across the country. Due to the difficult nature of preparing for all risks and threats, campuses often realize that they are preparing for the more recent events in history, which possibly leads to responding to a situation they have not prepared for (Zdziarski, Dunkel, Rollo, & Associates, 2007). College campuses need to change their shortterm focus toward a sustainable and resilient approach. Resiliency is a concept that has gained importance in the field of disaster management. It is a concept that emphasizes building adaptive capacities through social capital development, community competence, and strong communications and information systems (National Research Council [NRC], 2009). In this article, we apply the concept of resiliency to IHEs. Through this research, key elements of a disaster-resilient university (D...
