In the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech, student housing provider Campus Advantage has revamped and augmented its crisis communication plan.
When the phone rings at 2 a.m., it’s never a good call.
It means something has happened, and the Campus Advantage Rapid Engagement (C.A.R.E.) team kicks into action. Recently, I had such a call. A resident had been injured in a domestic dispute, and EMS and police had been notified. The C.A.R.E. team assessed the situation, developed a plan of action, reached out to family members and prepared a media response. Thankfully the situation did not end in tragedy, but that is not always the case.
On the morning of April 16, 2007, tragic shootings at Virginia Tech
left 33 dead and a nation in shock. The subsequent hours revealed a
profound impact on Campus Advantage (CA)—both on a personal
and business level. One resident of a CA-managed community near
Virginia Tech was among the victims, and the general manager at
the community lost several close friends.
After the attack, CA immediately dispatched three corporate executives to support the team and the property on both operational and personal levels. Since then, CA has taken the lessons it learned to review and adapt its approach to crisis response and communications, both internally and externally.
Companies of all types and sizes, both student and market-rate, should have a plan for responding to crises, and CA’s strategic approach can be instructive for anyone in property management.
“We believe the biggest key is being proactive, in every sense of the word,” says Mike Peter, President and CEO of Campus Advantage. “The Virginia Tech tragedy showed us that while we were well-prepared for a wide array of property incidents, our onsite team members and residents would gain added benefit from a corporate-level response team that could be quickly activated in situations affecting the day-to-day operations of the property.”
That team took shape with the launch of the Campus Advantage Rapid Engagement program. The C.A.R.E. program identifies a corporate level response team and includes a robust set of preparation, response and follow-up procedures and materials, such as contact and resource guides. The response team consists of a small number of key corporate members, ranging from the CEO to the national director of facilities, who will work with property and client personnel as needed during an emergency. The team is able to gather on short notice and quickly customize a situational response using the previously developed materials and protocols.
“The primary focus of the C.A.R.E. program is providing immediate corporate support at the property level,” says Michael Hanley, Senior Vice President at Campus Advantage. “The ultimate goal of the program is to minimize the impact of an emergency situation on our residents, staff and the day-to-day operations of a property.”
The best time to plan an emergency response program is when everything is calm, says Tonya Neumeier, Vice President of Management Systems and a founding member of the C.A.R.E. Team. “Then,” she says, “review and train so when something does happen, the process becomes second nature, kicking in to help the residents, their families and staff.”
Since the C.A.R.E. program was established, it has been activated 16 times. After each incident, the program is reviewed, updated and improved with the newly gained knowledge.
Equipped for Emergencies
The C.A.R.E. program empowers and equips onsite staff to immediately respond to emergencies. Property managers are given C.A.R.E. training as part of their new-hire training process. The training uses a Crisis Preparation and Response Workbook, customized for each community.
The workbook includes the community’s after-hours contact information; procedures for activating the corporate C.A.R.E. team and emergency text system; and contact information for community and civic organizations, local media, cleanup and repair crews, and a number of other resources. Due to the proximity of CA’s communities to colleges and universities, institutional contact information is an integral part of the customized portion of the workbook.
The workbook also contains the “hard asset” property information such as utility shutoff locations, fire systems, evacuation plans, lock-down procedures and crisis and weather preparation. By having this information ready before an event, onsite staff can easily provide vital information to responding emergency and rescue personnel so they can make the best-informed decisions. A digital copy of each community workbook also is stored in a web-based portal that any corporate C.A.R.E. team member can access remotely.
Head Office Help
Whereas the community-level component of C.A.R.E. provides onsite teams with the training, resources and support needed to mitigate and reduce the impact of emergencies on their residents and property, the corporate C.A.R.E. team, when activated, serves as a team of “second responders” to a situation, providing added perspective and structured support.
“We encourage our general managers not to hesitate to activate the C.A.R.E. team,” Neumeier says. “It’s much easier to be engaged as soon as possible to assess the situation, versus having to play catch-up during the emergency.”
The corporate team is responsible for the overall training and continuous improvement of the program. These improvements have included the addition of an emergency alert text-notification system, incident assessment reports, prepared statements and media training.
The media training for property managers and regional managers, co-developed with CA’s media communications and marketing partner Catalyst, is an important part of the training module, Peter says.
“When a significant event happens on a college campus, the media will cover it, and you have to be prepared,” Peter says. “That is why we require our managers to take a proactive approach and develop a relationship with the local media before an event happens. We also encourage our managers to be as open and forthright as possible, without disclosing any personal or sensitive information.”
The C.A.R.E. program provides both residents and the Company alike with peace-of-mind, knowing the resources are in place to respond to the unexpected. While it took an unforeseen tragedy like Virginia Tech to launch the C.A.R.E. program, Campus Advantage believes it is more prepared to support its team, C.A.R.E. for its residents, and maintain its properties than ever before.
“Unfortunately, you never know when tragedy is going to strike, but with over 30,000 residents, it does happen,” Neumeier says. “The C.A.R.E. program has helped tremendously over the years, allowing us to respond to events promptly and help the residents and staff respond and cope as effectively as possible.”
Dan Oltersdorf is the Vice President of Residence Life at Campus Advantage, a national student housing firm with 52 properties in 21 states. He is nationally known as a leader in the development of cutting-edge resources and training. Dan has co-authored two books, “Inspiration for Resident Assistants” and “Inspiration for Student Leaders,” and is the founder of the international resource website, ResidentAssistant.com. He can be reached at dano@campusadv.com.
Emergency Text-Messaging Protocol
Campus Advantage’s General Managers may activate the text messaging system anytime immediate communication may help to promote the well-being of residents. Examples of this include a facilities emergency, impending weather threat, a natural disaster, a violent event or any number of other situations.
Instructions
• Log onto website
• Go to Community Dashboard
• Click on Emergency Message
• Compose message
• Send
Sample Messages (tailor yours for your situation)
• Emergency Message—Avoid Area
(Location) is closed due to (event). Increase awareness & avoid area until further notice.
• Emergency Message—Campus Fire
Major fire at (location). Avoid area, evacuate nearby buildings.
• Emergency Message—Contaminated Water
Campus water supply contaminated. Do not consume tap water. Boil water or bottled water only.
• Emergency Message—Earthquake
Earthquake! Remain calm. Report injuries/damage/fire. Do not enter damaged buildings. No smoking or candles.
• Emergency Message—Emergency Situation
Emergency at (location), evacuate area immediately, all others shelter in place.
• Emergency Message—Evacuation
Evacuate the campus immediately. Evacuation instructions available at [typically campus website or local media outlet].
• Emergency Message—Hazardous Material Spill
Haz-Mat at (location)—remain indoors or go indoors NOW. Shelter in place until further notice.
• Emergency Message—Police Emergency
Police emergency at (location). Remain indoors, seek immediate indoor shelter and deny entry (lockdown) now!
Quick Response Checklist
Campus Advantage instructs property management staff to
use this checklist in coordination with a Regional Manager
or Regional Vice President to ensure they have addressed the
key issues in a crisis.
All Crises
• Assess immediate needs and call 911 if necessary
• Gather as much information about the crisis as possible, e.g. nature of event, location date(s), time(s), location(s)
• Determine who needs to be contacted (see contact procedures on the next page)
• Assess needed action steps based on situation
• Write incident report after crisis is under control
In case of C.A.R.E. Activation
• With C.A.R.E. team (if necessary), define the overall response of the group, e.g. prepare statement (if appropriate)
• With the C.A.R.E. team, define the media inquiry plan, e.g. to conduct media interviews
• Identify the affected groups and groups needing information, e.g. victims’ family and friends, community members, media, government agencies
• Define response actions and assigned responsibilities to group members, e.g. news conference, meeting with organizations, counseling, cancellation of events
• Identify which community partnerships to activate, e.g. police, interfaith organizations
• Identify which support services you will require, e.g. counselors, etc.
C.A.R.E. Activation Procedure and Contact Plan
Campus Advantage instructs property management staff to implement this contact plan immediately in any crisis that meets the following criteria:
• Imminent danger, fatality(ies) and serious injury(ies) caused by either “acts of Nature” or other causes, e.g., suicide, assault, robberies, traffic accidents, etc.
• Actual or predicted event causing significant environmental damage that would affect the property’s infrastructure, e.g., floods, fires, etc. • Any other event or incident that poses significant potential damage to the property’s reputation and/or credibility
CONTACT GUIDELINES
1. Immediately contact the appropriate emergency responders by activating 911 in an emergency. If there is no immediate threat, move to step 2.
2. If there is imminent threat to residents, activate the Campus Advantage Emergency Mobile Notification Service by logging in to the website, by activating it from your pre-registered mobile phone or by calling a member of the C.A.R.E. team.
3. Contact property and corporate representatives:
a. The General Manager
i. Cell:
ii. Home:
b. Regional Manager or Regional Vice President (who will then contact a C.A.R.E. team member)
i. Cell:
ii. Home:
iii. Campus Advantage Rapid Engagement (C.A.R.E.) team member: If you are unable to reach the RM or RVP, immediately make contact with a C.A.R.E. team member
4. Identify and contact external resources
Quick Reference Card
Immediate Questions
• What?
• When?
• How?
• Who was involved?
• Who has been or may be affected?
Communicate with the GM using the Crisis Response Workbook they have onsite as a resource. Also available on portal.
The first person to be contacted needs to organize the immediate conference call with other members to the C.A.R.E. team.
To arrange the call, call the next person and enlist his/her help in calling the rest of the team to dial in at a prearranged time.
Text Messaging
Visit emergency text portal
Enter email and password
Click on “text to community dashboard,” choose “send sms message,” then hit the Emergency Message button.
Conference Call
Conference Number: ###-###-####
Bridge: ###### PIN: ####