Axe ’Em, Jacks!
The University of Texas Police Department at SFA's emergency management team provides guidance and response to all-hazard emergency situations that occur on the SFA campus or have the potential to affect the campus community. Our focus is to:
- increase the administrative capabilities of emergency responders
- ensure the campus is well prepared for emergencies
- and assist in educating the campus community in emergency preparedness.
Emergency Operations Plan
The university provides HOP policy 05-506 and the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) as an all-hazard emergency management guidance.
Recognizing that it isn't always obvious at the outset of an event whether the incident will be minor and contained or the initial phase of a rapidly growing threat, the plan is built upon scalable, flexible, and adaptable coordinating systems to align key roles and responsibilities across the university when an emergency occurs.
Founded on the principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the plan designates authorities and describes practices for managing and coordinating responses to incidents that range from the serious but isolated to large-scale incidents and natural disasters.
When the need occurs, implementation of this plan requires cooperation, collaboration, and information sharing among all university departments and any external agencies that may assist the university during major emergencies and disasters.
Emergency Operations Center
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated whenever an emergency situation exceeds the capabilities of normal operations and immediate action is required to save and protect lives; coordinate communications; prevent damage to the environment, systems, and property; provide essential services; temporarily assign university staff members to perform emergency work; and/or invoke emergency authorizations to procure and allocate resources.
Upon activation, designated staff members will report to the EOC or alternate location as directed. The president, senior vice president for the Division of Organizational Effectiveness, Emergency Management director, and chief of police may activate the EOC. The EOC is typically activated via telephone recall and/or text messages using the university emergency notification system. The EOC consolidates decision makers to ensure the flow of information and the development of response strategies. Other organizations involved in the response to an emergency may be called upon to provide a representative in the EOC.
The general roles and responsibilities of the EOC:
- provide and collect accurate information regarding the emergency situation and current resource data to allow an on-scene officials to make informed decisions on courses of action
- determine and prioritize required response actions and coordinate their implementation by working with representatives of emergency services
- provide resource support for emergency operations
- and provide emergency information to the public as warranted.
The EOC also coordinates with local, regional, and state partners—including the City of Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, the University of Texas System Office, and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM)—as well as Unified or Joint Command when appropriate.
Emergency Management Committee
Function
The Emergency Management Committee (EMC) is a university-wide committee consisting of representatives from across the institution. The committee's mission is to collaborate on emergency management strategies and initiatives designed to enhance preparedness and improve the university's ability to respond to, and recover from, all threats.
Scope of Authority
The purview of the committee is limited to matters that pertain to the EOP's prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation strategies.
Responsibilities
- Continuously analyze all risks which expose the university to potential disruption of activities, including risks that are natural and human-made.
- Oversee the development of emergency preparedness and response plans in response to the risks identified.
- Present university-wide emergency response plans to the senior vice president for the Division of Organizational Effectiveness for approval and further presentation to the senior executives for approval to implement.
- Assist with the development of emergency response plans for operational units, and for ensure they align with the university-wide plan.
- Facilitate communication of the EOP through updates to the appropriate website and written materials as needed.
- Design and conduct two internal disaster drills per year when feasible, with one of the drills to include participation by external emergency response agencies.
- Develop training materials and facilitate the appropriate training for the university community.
- Serve as the university's emergency response team, managing the university's response to an emergency.
- Annual review of existing emergency management plans and related policies and procedures, with changes to be recommended to the senior vice president for the Division of Organizational Effectiveness for approval and further presentation to the senior executives.
- Record minutes and distribute them to its membership.
Reporting Structure
The EMC reports to the senior vice president for the Division of Organizational Effectiveness, who also serves as liaison to the senior executives. The senior executives hold ultimate authority for the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) while providing policy guidance and institutional support to the EMC. Several senior executives also serve as EMC members, contributing operational insight alongside their executive responsibilities. The senior vice president for the Division of Organizational Effectiveness appoints the EMC chairperson.
Committee Chair
Jeremy Pickett, director, Emergency Management
Committee representatives:
The following departments will be represented on the Emergency Management Committee:
- Division of Academic Affairs — Dr. Jordan Barkley, provost and executive vice president
- Division of Enrollment and Student Engagement — Dr. Kent Willis, senior vice president
- Division of Organizational Effectiveness — Gina Oglesbee, senior vice president
- Division of University Advancement — Jill Still, vice president
- Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management — Dr. Jeremy Higgins, executive director
- Facility Services and Campus Operations — John Branch, associate vice president
- Information Technology — Mike Coffee, vice president and chief information officer
- Intercollegiate Athletics — Michael McBroom, director
- Office of the President — Damon Derrick, chief of staff
- University Marketing Communications — Korbin Pate, executive director
- UTS-SFA Police Department — Michael Funke, interim chief of police
Additional ad-hoc consultants (i.e. legal, consultants) can be engaged to assist when needed.
The representative from each unit should be a key administrator for the operational area represented, thereby facilitating timely decisions. Due to the number of operational areas represented, each area is limited to one representative, with one alternate to participate when the regular representative is not available.
Meeting Schedule
The Emergency Management Committee will hold regular quarterly meetings, and may meet more often if the need arises.