The recent increase of snowfall requires a special committee of ENC leaders to assess ENC’s safety and enact emergency procedures.
The College Safety Committee is the group of leaders charged with making these decisions. The committee consists of over 20 faculty and staff members, including representatives from Security, Facilities, Student Development, and Dean Marion Mason, all led by the chair of the committee, Jan Weisen.
The faculty and staff from a variety of departments bring many ideas and suggestions about procedures and the necessity of cancellations, delays, and emergencies. Specific plans have been made for numerous situations and are structured around the Best Practices, used by the FBI and FEMA.
Best strives to find the most acceptable solution for the entire community. ENC’s emergency response team initiates these plans and works with the committee to make appropriate decisions for each specific emergency.
Vice President of Student Development Jeff Kirksey, a member of the committee, stated that the committee is working constantly to improve emergency strategies, including making sure that plans do not become outdated due to technology.
The College Safety Committee also looks at comparable schools’ and universities’ “peer quick reference guides” for new ideas and procedures for ENC’s emergency plans. Kirksey is currently working on an updated reference guide for the campus community, so students can have access to emergency plans.
“Threat assessment and emergency response plans have been created to protect ENC by the College Safety Committee with the goal for health, safety, and stability,” said Kirksey.
During our recent snowstorms, the College Safety Committee actively worked to assess the safety of ENC and enact appropriate emergency plans. The committee worked from home to make sure everyone on ENC’s campus was safe. The committee also held regular conference calls during the snowstorm to check on the campus’s progress throughout the day.
The committee talks to Facilities before and during the snowstorm to be updated with the campus’s status of power and heat, snow removal progress, and suggestions for the best course of action regarding class cancellations. By covering all of these topics in regular meetings, the committee can discuss the range of needs that students, faculty, and staff have during the snowstorm.
There is a sincere and immediate worry concerning ENC’s lack of any generator on campus. The committee is working on purchasing one in the future. The purchase of this generator will give electricity and heat, allowing vital buildings to remain operational and ultimately avoiding a campus evacuation.
The committee also ensures that the ENC campus is stocked with bottled water, light sources, and batteries for students who might need them in an emergency situation. They make sure that the cafeteria is able to run for a short period of time by using methods of cooking that do not require electricity.