Oregon State UniversityCrisis Communication Plan

Last Updated: Nov. 12, 2007

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Contents

About the plan 3

Objectives 5

Procedures

Assessment 6

Action plan 8

Color-coded threat-level system 13

Other OSU crisis plans 14

Appendices index 15

Crisis Communications Team Contact Information 16

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About the Plan

In the event of a crisis, the Oregon State University (OSU) community and

constituents connected to the university must be prepared to react. But to do so

effectively, they must first be made aware of relevant information through clear

and consistent communications.

The OSU Crisis Communication Plan provides policies and procedures for

coordination of that communication within OSU as well as between the university,

the media and the public. Incidents requiring mobilization of the plan are wide

ranging and include (but are not limited to) student or employee deaths, power

outages, financial difficulties, personnel actions, international crises, arrests or

major protests regarding social/civil issues, crimes or similar incidents regarding

students or employees, or other significant controversies requiring a public

response. The plan does not change the way such incidents are initially reported

or management of other crisis needs beyond communications. (Depending on

the nature of the event, such operations are governed by the OSU Master

Emergency Management Plan [Appendix 2] or by the university’s standard

operating procedures.)

This plan addresses both internal and external communications and

establishes guidelines for dealing with a variety of communications challenges. It

also aims to ensure that campus officials and communicators are familiar with

those procedures, as well as their communications roles in the event of a crisis.

The plan is designed to be used in conjunction with the normal decision-making

hierarchy of the university and does not supplant that decision-making process.

The Crisis Communication Plan was created with input from

representatives of University Advancement, Finance and Administration,

Academic Affairs, Office of the General Counsel, Public Safety, the Emergency

Preparedness Steering Committee, Environmental Health and Safety,

Extension/Experiment Station Communications and the Oregon State Police

University Area Command. It takes into account existing university response

groups, such as the Critical Incident Response Team and Bias Response Team,

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as well as existing plans, such as the OSU Infectious Disease Response

Protocol (Appendix 4) and OSU Radiation Center and Oregon State TRIGA

Reactor Emergency Response Plan (Appendix 8). It also recognizes the

university’s commitment to the Memorandum of Cooperation and Support for the

Linn/Benton counties Regional Public Information Network (Appendix 6).

Finally, the plan was created with knowledge of emergencies that OSU

has faced in the past and may face again in the future, as well as the specific

communications needs of such incidents.

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Objectives

To outline how the university assesses emergency or crisis situations and

whether communications responses are warranted.

To identify individuals responsible for creating, approving and executing

crisis communications, as well as the variety of tactical responses

available to meet the communications needs of such situations.

To implement clear, consistent and standardized processes and actions

designed to:

o Identify constituencies to be informed about the situation.

o Communicate facts about the crisis immediately through

appropriate channels/media.

o Minimize rumors and misinformation through provision of timely

information and ongoing updates.

o Help restore order and/or confidence.

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Procedures

Assessment: A crisis is defined as an event or situation that:

could affect or has affected negatively the health, safety or welfare of

students, faculty, staff or campus visitors,

severely impedes or limits the core function of the university, or

could or has negatively affected the reputation/image of the university

and/or public confidence in the institution.

Law enforcement officers, fire department personnel or other “first

responders” who encounter a crisis or other emergency situation will follow their

prescribed chain of command in notifying dispatchers and other appropriate

personnel of the situation. Area, state and federal law enforcement and related

agencies have established protocol for interfacing with OSU Public Safety

officials as well as officers with Oregon State Police who have law enforcement

jurisdiction at OSU. Those officials, in turn, are part of the OSU Emergency

Preparedness Steering Committee, which oversees crisis response planning for

the university.

Other individuals who encounter a potential crisis should call 911 (or 541-

737-7000) if a law enforcement or public safety response is desirable or

necessary. If not, the individual should share whatever information he or she has

with his/her supervisor, department head, dean or other appropriate university

leader (if he or she does not serve in such a role), and that person should consult

with one of the following Crisis Communications Team leaders who can

determine whether an immediate internal and/or external communications

response is necessary:

The Vice President for University Advancement or

The Assistant Vice President for University Advancement/Director of News

& Communication Services or

Vice President for Finance and Administration

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In the absence of any of the above, the Asst. Director of News &

Communication Services

Any of these three individuals may make determination as to whether to

convene a full Crisis Communications Team (Appendix 1). The team will

consult the President, Provost and General Counsel, as well as other team

members as appropriate. In the event of a major emergency or disaster, the

OSU Master Emergency Management Plan is activated by the OSU Incident

Commander, also triggering the communications assessments and procedures

outlined in this plan (the AVP/Director is recognized as the Public Information

Officer within the Disaster Management Plan). Core members of the Crisis

Communications Team whose consultation is most likely to be sought on a

consistent basis in such situations include:

General Counsel and/or Assoc. General Counsel

Vice Provost, Student Affairs, and/or Dean, Student Life

Director, Facilities Services

Oregon State Police and/or Director of Public Safety

If a determination is made to mount a communications response, the

following additional secondary team members may be called upon to help

formulate a plan of action and execute that response, depending upon the

situation:

President

Provost & Executive Vice President

Vice President, Research

Vice Provost for Information Services

Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and International Programs

Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement

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Appropriate college dean/s (Agricultural Sciences, Business, Education,

Engineering, Forestry, Health and Human Sciences, Liberal Arts, Oceanic

and Atmospheric Sciences, Pharmacy, Science and Veterinary Medicine)

Director, Intercollegiate Athletics

Director, Human Resources

Director, Student Health Services

Director of International Education and Outreach

President, Faculty Senate

Assoc. Director of Facilities Services., Environmental Health & Safety

Director, Housing & Dining Services

Director, Government Relations

Dept. Head, Extension and Experiment Station Communications or EESC

News Group Leader

Action plan: Appropriate members of the Crisis Communications Team

convene to develop and execute a plan of action specific to the event or crisis.

The plan may include some or all of the following actions:

1. Identify facts, critical information and key messages. University

Advancement coordinates the release of any institutional information,

including official statements from appropriate university individuals.

University Advancement consults the General Counsel’s office prior to

such release where potential claims may be raised. Objectives in the

release of information are:

Timely release of accurate information;

Communicate verified facts rather than speculation;

Facilitate information flow;

Promote and protect the welfare of involved personnel and/or

students and their families;

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Retain employee, student, public and news media confidence in

the institution;

Use a crisis, when appropriate, to educate the public on broader

issues raised by the crisis (i.e., how we’ll prevent similar

incidents from occurring in the future, what programs we have in

place and what we’re doing now).

Information that is speculative should not be released. Examples of such

information include estimates concerning the dollar value of damage

resulting from a fire or comments on judicial processes in which findings

have not been issues.

2. Designate a spokesperson. In Human Resources matters, this will be

the University Advancement vice president; in Athletics matters, the

director of Intercollegiate Athletics; in other cases (including events

triggering the OSU Master Emergency Management Plan), this will be the

AVP/Director. Other members of the Crisis Communications Team with

more direct knowledge of the situation may also be designated

spokesperson by the AVP/Director or the University Advancement Vice

President. Efforts will be made to ensure that a single spokesperson is

identified for any individual event to help ensure consistency and accuracy

in whatever information is released.

3. Share messages with key communications personnel with

responsibilities related to this plan, including University Advancement Web

Communications staff, Internal Communications Editor, Assistant Director

of News and Communication Services and select other NCS staff

members and campus communicators. The Web Communications Staff is

responsible for loading approved messages on the official OSU site. The

AVP/Director and/or OSU Dispatch record approved messages on the

OSU emergency telephone message lines, 541-737-8000.

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4. The AVP/Director also may provide key messages to university

switchboard operators (541-737-1000), including estimated time of next

information update.

5. Notify key constituencies. Administration, faculty, staff and students

must be informed of appropriate details and actions taken by the university

during a crisis. Effective communications helps quell rumors, maintain

morale and ensure orderly operations of the university. Among the groups

that should be considered for communication in a crisis situation:

OSU Foundation, OSU Alumni Association and OSU Advisory Board

leadership (with recommendations on how they may want to

communicate to their constituents)

Administration, faculty and staff

Students

Parents of students

Law enforcement agencies, health care facilities and other local civic

authorities as needed

General public

6. The Director of News & Communication Services distributes key

messages, including estimated time of next update, via campus-wide e-

mail using the “OSU Inform” lists and the new Color-Coded System for

Campus Threats (see p. 13 of this document). [New text-message based

systems for disseminating information to campus constituents are

currently under evaluation, and it is likely that one will be put in place in

the 2007-08 school year. This plan will be amended to reflect that change

and the new capabilities such a system would offer in the event that

implementation takes place.]

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7. Draft a fact sheet or news release containing a summary statement of

the situation including all details appropriate for release to media. This

information should be made available to and approved by the Vice

President of University Advancement. This fact sheet should be analyzed

with respect to the public’s right to know and concerns for privacy and

security in consultation with General Counsel. News & Communication

Services takes appropriate considerations into account, including time,

place and manner in which information is released.

8. Distribute to media the fact sheet or news release, taking into account

audiences and reach, deadlines and expected time of publication,

broadcast or posting. Media includes broadcast, print and digital outlets.

Fact sheets or news releases will be shared via e-mail and/or facsimile or,

when appropriate, in person.

9. In the event that the situation draws a significant media presence to

campus, convene a press briefing at which the appropriate university

leader, law enforcement representative or the PIO can convey key

messages to media.

10. In the event that the media presence is expected to last more than 24

hours, establish a Joint Information Center as required to provide a

central point for coordinating emergency public information activities.

Representatives and public information officers from involved entities may

meet and determine what information to communicate to media outlets

and what methods to use. At each briefing, share estimated time of next

update, when appropriate.

11.When feasible, use existing internal communications media, including

the OSU Web site, OSU Today and OSU This Week, to convey key

information to faculty and staff.

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12.When feasible, use other university media to convey key information to

campus and off-campus audiences. Such media include the OSU home

page, The Daily Barometer, My OSU News, KOAC, KBVR and the

InfoCaster television service.

13. Public Forums: Whenever desirable, a public forum may be scheduled

and coordinated by University Advancement to communicate to members

of the university community. Representatives from the secondary team

may be asked to be on hand and prepared to answer questions/share

pertinent information. Specific departments and/or individuals also may be

requested to attend and participate depending upon the nature of the

crisis. Such forums must be approved by the University Advancement

Vice President.

In order for many of the above actions to be properly executed, individuals

responsible for those tasks must have access to functioning telephones,

computers, university servers and other support components for OSU

communications. The AVP/Director will work closely with Information Services

and the Emergency Preparedness Steering Committee to ensure that

communication tools are in place and sufficient and that there is adequate

backup for key responsibilities, should any individual(s) be unable to fulfill their

duties. In the event of loss of telephone service, cellular phones and/or hand-held

public frequency radios will be used by OSU emergency responders. The

Director of News & Communication Services maintains a list of cellular phone

numbers and other contact information for key university officials (Appendix 1).

Environmental Health and Safety has hand-held public frequency radios in

storage and ready for use by members of the OSU Incident Command Team and

related officials.

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Color-coded system for campus threats

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security uses a color-coded system as

a tool to help communicate to public safety officials and the public at large, in a

fast and graphic manner, the level of terrorist threat currently facing the United

States. That system features five levels, ranging from Green (low risk of terrorist

attacks) to Red (severe risk).

In recognition of serious and sometimes life-threatening issues that can

manifest on campus at any given time, OSU will now use a similar OSU Alert

model to classify and communicate around significant threats, as follows:

OSU Alert

Red Campus is experiencing a significant threat to individual and/or public safety. Individuals should immediately consult the OSU Web site, OSU emergency phone line and/or external media for directions and await notification from the OSU emergency notification system.

Examples: Campus shooting; Gas leak or fire requiring evacuation of campus buildings; substantial earthquake; loss of electrical power to campus; ice/snow storm requiring campus closure.

Yellow A threat to individual and/or public safety is anticipated within a specific period; individuals should stay in contact with OSU and external media for further information and instructions and take appropriate precautions.

Examples: Forecast of severe weather likely to effect driving conditions, campus functionality; terror-style threat targeting a specific future date.

Green No threat at this time. All operations normal.

The color-coded system will be used in all manner of OSU emergency

management communications as a means of quickly imparting the nature of any

individual crisis and prompting personal and group action.

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Other OSU Crisis Plans

As noted above, OSU has multiple additional plans specific to numerous

crisis situations. The Crisis Communications Plan was created with those plans

in mind, and is sufficiently flexible to address communications functions

articulated in them without modification. Those plans include:

OSU Infectious Disease Response Protocol (Appendix 4) –

communications protocols represented on pages 6 – 9.

OSU Pandemic Response outline (Appendix 7) – communications

functions represented on page 3.

The OSU policy on “social distancing” relative to pandemic flu.

OSU Radiation Center and Oregon State TRIGA Reactor Emergency

Response Plan (Appendix 8) – public information officer and

communications responsibilities outlined on page 3-8 and articulated

elsewhere throughout the document.

In addition, Facilities Services and News & Communication Services

operate under the agreement that in the event of an power outage, building

access issue or other facilities situation not requiring mobilization of the OSU

Disaster Management Plan, the Facilities Services Director will be in direct

contact with the AVP/Director regarding information sharing with the campus and

surrounding communities.

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Appendices (note: not attached for online dissemination)

1. Crisis Communications Team Members

2. OSU Emergency Management Plan (draft, review and approval pending)

3. Memo of Cooperation and Support between Benton County, OSU and

other leading area organizations

4. OSU Infectious Disease Response Protocol

5. OSU Extension and Experiment Station Contacts List

6. November 28, 2006, Memorandum to University Employees from Human

Resources Director Jacquelyn T. Rudolph, “Closure or Curtailed

Operations Due to Inclement Weather of Hazardous Conditions”

7. OSU Pandemic Response outline, August 2006

8. OSU Radiation Center and Oregon State TRIGA Reactor Emergency

Response Plan

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