Evacuating the University If students are required to vacate residence halls and campus apartments, they will be asked to take only necessary belongings with them initially in order to maximize opportunities for students to share transportation. Arrangements for students to retrieve the remainder of their belongings will be made later. Communications The university will provide information to members of the campus community about the serious nature of the epidemic threat, educate the campus community about the epidemic plan, and every member’s potential role in responding to the crisis, inform campus community members about ongoing health mitigation measures (flu shots, use of hand sanitizers, e.g.), and provide timely and effective information during an epidemic with the goal to help reduce illness, save lives, and maintain essential operations. Communication methods may include alerts and updates on the university’s web sites, news stories and advisories on message boards, recorded messages on the U niversity’s Emergency Hotline , news releases to the media, and the creation and distribution of printed and electronic materials as appropriate. The communications plan for an epidemic will follow the principles and guidelines as established by the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) and published in the Critical Incident Response Plan. The Office of Communications will have primary responsibility for developing and disseminating information to internal and external audiences. Communications will work with other offices as necessary and appropriate to accomplish these tasks. NLU will strive to meet the mental health needs of its students and employees in preparing for, coping with, and recovering from an epidemic emergency. The University Counseling and Wellness Center will: • Provide direct mental health services to students -- within its capabilities • Plan for and identify alternative means of delivering services when required • Develop educational programming pertaining to epidemic health issues • Provide post-crisis psychological support services to students and the campus community • Collaborate with other departments to address the mental health needs of the campus community Essential Personnel, Operations, and Services The Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) will establish a system to rapidly identify essential personnel, operations, and services relative to the university’s mission and objectives during an epidemic. CIRT will: • Determine the essential staffing needed based upon the details of the specific epidemic emergency • Determine the hours in which essential personnel will be asked to work, taking into account the safety of the personnel and their families • Ensure that the university implements a fair and equitable compensation system for essential personnel during the epidemic emergency period.
Information Technology Information Technology Services will maintain telephone systems, computing capability, and internet services to meet the needs of the campus community during an epidemic emergency. LITS department
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