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Textbooks, Pens and a Crisis Management Plan: A Back-to-School List for Higher Education

By: Maggie Brandt | 08/17/2011

Imagine you are asleep in your home when you awake suddenly to a screeching alarm. You open your eyes and see your bedroom filling with smoke. What do you do? 

Chances are, some of these fire safety tips may come to mind: crawl on the floor where the smoke may be thinner, check the door handle to see if it is hot, and, should you catch on fire, stop, drop and roll. 

Since we were small children we have been preparing for just such a crisis. We were given a sequence of steps to follow in these situations and participated in drills in school to practice our crisis response skills.

Today, as adults and communications professionals, crisis preparedness is just as vital as it was in elementary school.

Andrea Weber, assistant director for fraternity and sorority life at Missouri State University, recently told me about how her office similarly prepares college students to handle crisis situations. From a burglary at a sorority house to sexual assault in a parking lot to the loss of a fellow student, college students are often thrown into difficult real-world situations and, like fire drills in elementary school, they need practice and resources to help them handle situations appropriately. 

Student organizations such as fraternities and sororities prepare students to handle a crisis by developing plans, educating their members and practicing their response. For example, Andrea supports students through risk management programming and crisis response training that includes:

• Educational speakers on topics ranging from self-defense, to depression and suicide, to alcohol poisoning.
• House drills to test emergency evacuation plans.
• Simulations where students can practice their roles in a crisis situation.

The university also has a detailed crisis management plan that helps fraternity and sorority leaders determine the appropriate response to a crisis, including how to communicate with members, the university, the chapter's headquarters and the media during the incident. Here are a few steps they recommend:

• Collect emergency information cards on each member, including the name and number of an emergency contact.
• Establish a chain of command when handling a crisis. For example, if the president is absent, who is in control?
• Hold a meeting with members to explain what has happened and clarify any rumors or misunderstandings about the crisis.
• Designate a spokesperson who will be the only person to communicate with the media.

For more information about risk management and crisis response for fraternities and sororities, visit the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (AFA) or the Fraternal Information & Programming Group (FIPG).

As the fraternity and sorority community gears up for the start of another school year, Andrea and her colleagues will be helping students review and practice emergency procedures. Similarly, all organizations, student or professional, should be considering how they might respond in a crisis situation, whether that is a fire in the building, the loss of a coworker or negative news coverage (see our past blog posts here, here and here for crisis response tips). Developing a crisis response plan and being aware of possible risks is an important step in preparing a company and its employees to handle unfortunate events as gracefully as possible.

Posted in Issues and Crisis Management