In light of the tragedy that occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech yesterday, Columbia College Chicago is examining its current Emergency Preparedness Plan, its emergency response mechanisms, and its communications protocols and systems.
Columbia has an existing Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) to protect the safety and welfare of its community. The EPP includes a Crisis Communication Plan. The college has security guards at the entrance to each of its buildings who are equipped with electronic communications and computer connections to enhance the flow of information among our buildings throughout the South Loop. The college works cooperatively with City of Chicago emergency responders to help ensure the safety of persons and property on campus.
The college has a number of communication protocols in place, including telephone messaging systems, e-mail systems, and website notification mechanisms. We have television monitors in the lobbies of our buildings that enable us to deliver messages quickly. We employ a variety of communication tools to close buildings, when necessary. We use commercial media to deliver messages to mass audiences.
Because of the events on the Virginia Tech campus, we are re-examining our preparedness policies and are engaged in evaluating new communication technologies that might be employed to more effective and efficiently deliver crisis communications to members of our campus community.
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