At the Stetson Law and Higher Education Conference Feb. 19, representatives from colleges and universities around the nation attended an information session about strategies for avoiding liability for negligent management of emergency situations.

After natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and catastrophic events like the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, universities across the country began increasing their contingency plans to ensure the safety of their students, faculty and staff.

And at the University of Wisconsin, catastrophic events are not as far off as they may seem.

While the White House may not be in the campus's backyard, UW is a well-renowned research institution — labs with biological and chemical components are a target and could create a potentially hazardous environment.

Even controversial professors and lecturers who teach at the university — such as Kevin Barrett — draw attention to UW by advocating unpopular theories and ideas.

And Saturday football games at Camp Randall Stadium, which bring more than 80,000 people into a congested area, could also be a vulnerable target for terrorists.

The University of Missouri-Rolla recently demonstrated a university's susceptibility to a potential terrorist-like threat when a student brought a supposed anthrax substance and a bomb to class Tuesday.

"It is not necessarily the size of the institution, but the location, environment and activities it engages in," said Christiane Groth, a risk analyst for United Educators.

Groth, who works on insurance for educational institutions, spoke at the Feb. 19 conference about her research in crisis management and shared her insight into reviewing universities' response plans.

In an interview with The Badger Herald, Groth said any large institution, whether in business or academics, requires a team of professionals who understand the National Fire Protection Association 1600 code — the standard on disaster-emergency management and business continuity programs.

NFPA 1600, Groth said, is a planning guide for organizations to realize issues and risks associated with being a large institution.

"Disaster response is not just life safety or the need to a basic response," Groth said.

Academic institutions, like any other business, also need Continuity of Operations Plans to maintain daily operations without the fear of their businesses folding, Groth said.

Groth added academic institutions are just as "fiscally viable" as a regular business during any type of disaster and would require business interruption insurance to carry out daily monetary operations. This insurance, she said, is still important even if the institution is not taking in any income at a particular time.

Threats facing UW

To begin preparing for any type of disaster, Groth said the first step is to create a risk profile assessing both the activity level of particular locations and environmental factors.

From an activity perspective, Groth said any form of research involving animals, biological and chemical agents, and lasers — all of which go on at UW — increases the risk of threat of a terrorist-type attack on a particular area.

"Threats exist in areas that have lots of energy and a context of people," said Vicki Bier, director of the center for human performance and risk analysis at UW.

Groth said large stadiums such as Camp Randall — and other "congregating points" — are even greater potential terrorist targets when the events are televised nationally.

Groth added even particular individuals — such as faculty members who are vocal about their controversial beliefs — increase the threat level of a campus since it is likely some people disagree with their viewpoints.

On an environmental level, Jonathan Martin, professor of atmospheric and oceanic studies, said there is also risk associated with the weather in Madison.

Geographically, Martin said UW is prone to big blizzards and ice storms associated with strong winds in the winter and violent thunderstorms with the likelihood of tornadoes forming in the summer.

"The effects of such storms," Martin said, "could put the campus and city back a few days because of snow removal shutting down local businesses and even campus facilities."

With blizzard conditions, Martin said it is easy to have some guidelines in place because the National Weather Service is able to predict storms a few days in advance and issues warnings related to the severe winter weather.

In the summer, however, Martin said it is harder to prepare for inclement weather since thunderstorms and tornadoes move quickly without a significant notice, leaving an area flooded, like what UW experienced this past summer.

What is UW's plan?

Johnnie Diamante, emergency management lieutenant for the UW Police Department, said a plan to protect the university is divided among three phases: the ground level planning, crisis level planning and the continuity of operation planning stage.

The first phase, Diamante said, began in October 2003 with efforts on campus by the UWPD to improve first-response efforts.

"The plan deals with emergency response," Diamante said. "We have 400 buildings on campus, and we need to know how to respond [to disasters]."

Under the plan, Diamante said campus buildings would be addressed individually based on size, equipment and discipline requiring the most attention — such as research labs and lecture halls — given a particular disaster.

Section 2 of the plan, Diamante said, covers the global phases, which deals with issues related to the entire university and includes large-scale incidents in residence halls.

"For Phase 2, the UW Police determine the severity of the incident and the support needed," Diamante said.

Phase 2 of the plan went into effect last summer, when intense rainfall caused flooding throughout the majority of Madison and the UW campus.

The third phase of the COOP plan, Diamante said, is very detailed and takes more than 18 months to develop.

"The importance of this plan," Diamante said, "is key personnel need to identify their services and communicate the rules and responsibilities."

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the initial development of a COOP plan for UW-Madison began in March 2006 because state legislation mandated the phase in all state-run institutions.

Bier said the COOP identifies all the steps the university will take in a major crisis and lists all the people responsible for action should the situation arise. The COOP plan first addresses critical areas that require immediate response, such as students who live in the dorms and need meals or medical attention.

"A big part of planning is to look at functions," Bier said. "Do we have the information and technology necessary to handle this type of situation?"

Kathleen Poi, executive director of University Health Services, said it is important to identify a chain of command so people know how to make decisions quickly once everyone is together.

For example, Poi said UHS would not be the sole provider of care in the event of an emergency. UHS would answer questions and offer information and counseling, while those who are seriously injured would report to area hospitals.

"We at UHS are not going to be the first responder," Poi said. "We will coordinate with the county to assess the needs of the campus community."

Even in the case of a widespread influenza pandemic, Poi said the plan would force the campus to look for ways to send the most students home and change the way the university would operate until the epidemic was controlled.

The key, Diamante said, is that all plans need to be presented to all particular staff and entities of UW involved so everyone knows how to react.

"It is a misguided effort to put a plan into a binder and leave it on a shelf," Groth said. "Disaster preparedness is an effort that needs to live in the minds of people."

Groth said people in an organization need to react instinctively — like the military — because plans fall apart when everyone is scrambling.

This past Tuesday at the University of Missouri-Rolla, spokesperson Lance Feyh said people were forced into quarantine after a graduate student was found with a white, powdery substance and claimed to have a bomb. The student also threatened "terrorist-type" actions.

While the white substance turned out to be sugar, Feyh said the most immediate problem was the public relations department could not notify students via the Internet of canceled classes before they were already in transit.

"This event demonstrates we need more training for the future," Feyh said.

Poi said people often think of a plan as being step by step, and if they turn to a particular page of a manual, the answer will be there.

However, Poi said it is impossible, given the wide possibilities of disaster.

"There is no such thing as a typical disaster," Poi said. "You can't, ahead of time, anticipate every step, because it is unpredictable."

Poi added what is essential — and possible — is to prepare a system that leads people in the same room to decide what needs to be done.

"If you have a command system in place and people trained even in an emergency; the integration is seamless," Groth said.

Diamante said UW has yet to decide if emergency procedures should be practiced monthly, quarterly or yearly.

Where does UW go from here?

Groth said her advice is for colleagues in higher education to communicate with one another.

Recently hit areas that have experienced tragedy or are prone to earthquakes have a heightened sense of urgency to drive the planning and can offer suggestions, Groth said.

Senior administrators who change institutions can often bring new suggestions to their campus and better integrate particular programs.

"The benchmark was first Sept. 11," Giroux said. "Now the new benchmark is Katrina."

The UW Police Department, Giroux said, is continuing to work on Madison's COO plan. He added the UWPD is helping all university campuses across the state develop individualized plans so each location is prepared, given the logistical and operational needs specific to their area.

Giroux added future events will continue to elevate disaster planning to a new level. But for now, he said, "We all need to be prepared."