SECTION 3: CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS

A. GENERAL

MSU acknowledges that the responsibilities and functions performed during an emergency must be incident-specific, therefore, this EOP is based on the all-hazards approach and is flexible in that individual elements of the plan or all elements of the plan may be activated based on the specific emergency/incident and the decisions of senior university leadership.

MSU’s EOP outlines actions and procedures for managing a broad range of emergencies or crisis events – it does not prescribe specific actions to be taken in response to specific emergency situations. This EOP is expected to be activated whenever an emergency situation:

  • goes beyond the capacity of routine departmental response procedures, requiring sustained response and/or institutional level strategic/policy support; or,
  • significantly impacts multiple campus constituencies; or,
  • may threaten the health, safety or welfare of campus constituents; or,
  • has the potential to disrupt the university’s business, programs or activities; or,
  • could have a negative impact on the university’s physical assets; or,
  • could negatively impact the credibility or reputation of the university.

B. AUTHORITY TO MAKE DECISIONS IN AN EMERGENCY

The following positions are authorized to declare a campus emergency, to determine operational priorities and personnel assignments required to facilitate emergency operations and to activate the EOP in total or in part. This list also represents the succession of decision-making authority and operational control for continuity of operations.

  • The university President
  • The Provost/VP for Academic Affairs
  • The VP for Administration & Finance
  • The AVP for University Services
  • The Chief of the MSU Police Department
  • The Emergency Management Coordinator

Any decision to close the university must be made by the Commissioner of Higher Education after consultation with the university president.

C. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PRIORITIES:

  1. Save lives and protect the health, safety, and welfare of all campus constituents including responders and recovery personnel.
  2. Ensure security of the university and restore a sense of order.
  3. Protect and restore critical infrastructure and key resources.
  4. Conduct law enforcement investigations as required to resolve the incident, apprehend perpetrators, and collect and preserve evidence for prosecution and/or attribution.
  5. Protect property and mitigate damage and impacts to individuals, the community and the environment.
  6. Facilitate recovery of individuals.
  7. Facilitate recovery of operations.
  8. Protect the university’s credibility and reputation.

D. KEY ELEMENTS OF EMERGENCY PLANNING

MSU recognizes the five key elements of Emergency Planning as noted herein. While it is not appropriate to address every element within the EOP itself, MSU expects to develop guidance for each element in the future. The five key elements and their relationship to this EOP include:

  • Prevention: Actions taken to avoid or stop an incident from occurring, including deterrence operations and surveillance.
  • Protection: Actions taken to secure the university against natural and human-caused disasters.
  • Mitigation: Activities which reduce the probability of a disaster occurring or reduce the damaging and long-term effects of unavoidable emergencies.
  • Preparedness: Activities that develop and strengthen the response capabilities needed to effectively respond to an emergency. This EOP addresses preparedness through planning and establishing training for both response personnel and university leadership, and the use of exercises to reinforce training and to test capabilities.
  • Response: This EOP establishes the organization, structure and actions to be carried out to effectively respond to an emergency.
  • Recovery: Short-term recovery operations seek to restore vital services to the university and long-term recovery focuses on restoring the university to its normal, pre-disaster (or an improved) state of affairs. Recovery also encompasses business continuity planning.

E. LEVELS OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE

MSU classifies emergency responses into three (3) levels of response according to increasing severity. The severity level of an incident may increase or decrease during the course of the incident and response activities, requiring the level of response to be adjusted. The severity of an incident is determined by the threat to the safety of the campus community and the ability of the university to handle the incident.

Level 1: Level 1 represents the least severe incidents which remain within the scope and capability of normal university response services without declaring an emergency and activating the EOP. Incidents may result in minor injuries or minor damage to university facilities, but affects a small, localized area of campus.

Level 2: Level 2 incidents require the response of several campus entities, coordinated through activation of the EOP and the IRG and may require partial or full activation of the EOC. Incidents may result in severe or multiple injuries; and/or major damage to university facilities; and/or a continuing threat to the campus community; may affect one or more areas of the university; may disrupt normal university operations and delivery of services; and may pose reputational or credibility risk to the university. The President may charge a CMT to advise during incidents that represent a significant reputational or credibility risk, but that do not require activating the EOC.

Level 3: Level 3 incidents require the response of multiple campus entities in concert with external agencies, coordinated through activation of the EOP with full activation of the IRG and the EOC. Such incidents are not localized to a single campus area and may affect the surrounding community; may result in major damage to the university or its facilities; may result in multiple casualties or fatalities; may result from an area-wide disaster; disrupt normal university operations and delivery of services; and may pose reputational or credibility risk to the university.

F. PLANNING FOR PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

  1. Comprehensive emergency management includes consideration and preparedness to accommodate people with special needs. Consideration for people with special needs will be incorporated into university and departmental level planning and response activities. Such planning will include meeting special needs for building evacuations, transporting, and sheltering people with special needs and appropriately accommodating service animals.
  2. MSU complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which states that emergency programs, services, activities, and facilities must be accessible to people with access and functional needs and may not use eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out people with access and functional needs. ADA requirements include reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures when necessary to accommodate persons with access and functional needs and to ensure effective communications with persons with access and functional needs throughout emergencies. The MSU Emergency Management Coordinator will work with the MSU Office of Disability, Re-Entry, and Veteran Services to appropriately address emergency plans and procedures in accommodating persons with access and functional needs.
  3. MSU has two operations that regularly work with pre-school aged children on campus – the ASMSU Day Care facility and the Child Development Center. The Emergency Management Coordinator will work these units to assure that appropriate plans are in place and are coordinated with this EOP.

G. EXTERNAL REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE

  1. ests for law enforcement assistance should go directly to the MSU Police Department and are governed by MCA 44-11-101. Requests from the City of Bozeman are governed by the current MSU/City MOU.
  2. Requests for fire services should go either to MSU Police Department or to City of Bozeman Fire Department by calling 911. Fire Services are contracted annually per an MSU/City Agreement.
  3. Requests from external agencies for emergency support and/or university resources (for other than law enforcement assistance as noted above) should be communicated to the university Emergency Management Coordinator and forwarded to the AVP for University Services for concurrence. Commitment of university resources should be made with consideration for capacity, availability, duration, scope of the emergency, etc.

H. LOCAL ENTITIES & OUTSIDE AGENCIES

  1. When MSU activates its EOP or EOC, MSU’s Emergency Management Coordinator will notify other local entities and outside agencies of the activation and the nature of the situation that caused the activation.
  2. When a local entity or outside agency activates their EOP or EOC, MSU’s Emergency Management Coordinator will notify MSU’s emergency response entities of the situation and be prepared to offer appropriate assistance to the entity.

I . LEGAL QUESTIONS/ISSUES

Legal questions/issues that arise during an emergency will be resolved by consulting MSU Legal Counsel; the legal counsel for the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (Montana); or the state attorney general’s office.