August 1, 2005

 

 

 

Memo for:   Business Continuity Plan Management Committee

 

 

Subject:  Minutes of the July 29, 2005 Meeting

 

 

 

1.       A meeting of the Business Continuity Plan Management Committee was held on Friday, July 29, 2005, in Room 208 Cone Center.

 

2.       Attendance:

a.       Present:  Dixie Airey, Susan Brooks, Joey Cochran, Ray Galleno, Diana Gann, Carter Heath , Tony Hoppa,  Debra Joyce, Norman Lefebvre, Marlon Lynch, John Mack, Doug Pierce, Mark Reynolds, Morgan Roseborough, Gary Stinnett, Doug Thomas, Tom York

 

b.        Absent:  Kathi Baucom, Randy Duncan, Barbara Edwards, Ted Elling, John Gandar, Barry Godlewski, Lee Gray, William Harper, Jon Hawn, Bill Hill, Michelle Howard, Dane Hughes, Phil Jones, Tom Lamb, Wally Seigler, Laura Simic, Darin Spease

 

3.        Main topics / issues:

 

a.       Presentation by W. W. Grainger, Inc:   Bernard Geist, Pamela Eubank, and Laurie McDermott, representatives of W.W. Grainger, Inc.  gave a presentation outlining the disaster recovery and emergency management products and services their company can provide from local and regional distribution centers.  In addition to a local office in Charlotte, they also have a regional distribution center in Greenville, SC.  They recommended that the University establish a blanket purchase order with their company that can be activated at any time.  We already have a pre-disaster agreement with First Restoration Services for cleanup and restoration of workspace; we could have a similar agreement for products with W.W. Grainger.  They emphasized that they could more readily supply the equipment, materials and supplies that we might need as a single vendor (with internal distribution and delivery capability) than by using multiple suppliers.  Such an agreement (and the blanket P.O.) would be managed by Business Affairs and Purchasing.

 

b.       Resource Tracker Contact and Recovery Item Status:  Morgan presented charts (below), with data current as of July 27, 2005, depicting the current status of individual emergency contact information and planning documents [Recovery Items] included in the University’s Business Continuity Plan.  Only 25% of individual contact information is current (i.e., less than 120 days since the last update/confirmation).  Of  87 Recovery Items, 36 are past due for update or verification (more than 180 days).  The semi-annual update campaign is underway, with a goal of having all individual contact information and COOPs verified or updated by the end of August.  Committee members are encouraged to get their divisions and/or departments’ individual contact information and recovery items brought up to date before the start of the Fall Semester.

 

 

Information is Current for 90 of 321 Team Members 

 

Of 87 Recovery Items: 36 are Past Due; 0 are Not Established 

 

 

 

 

c.   UNISYS Audit Results:  Carter Heath was to have given a summary of the results of an independent audit conducted by UNISYS.  However, due to time constraints, he had to defer this report until the next meeting.

 

d.   Tornado Warnings:  Morgan gave a recap of the tornado warning the University received two weeks earlier.  Delays in getting the warning disseminated were discussed.  These were mainly due to having to contact a different individual to issue the warning by broadcast mailbox, instant email, Channel 22, web site, and Mission Mode.  Just to get the message out by broadcast mailbox took 20 minutes.  What Morgan recommended is a special MissionMode team (or list) consisting of those people who are authorized to issue alerts in each of those mediums.  By sending one MissionMode alert to that list, all would receive the message at approximately the same time.  This should significantly reduce the time required to issue an alert message, and it should reach a much wider audience.  The issue of an outdoor warning system (siren) was also discussed.  This has been an open issue for at least one year (or more), but has been deferred due to lack of funds.

 

e.   Post-Disaster Scenario:  Morgan led the committee in a tabletop exercise that centered on measures to communicate to employees and students, and resume University operations, following a closure for approximately 4 days.  Issues reviewed included:

·         Damage assessment and salvage teams.

·         Essential personnel and means to identify them. [Note:  Ray Galleno announced that the new employee identification cards will have distinctive markings for those who are “Essential Personnel”.]


f.   Proposed date for the next meeting:  10 AM, Friday, September 30, 2005, in Room 208 Cone Center.

 

 

4.  The meeting adjourned at 11:15 AM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan Roseborough

Director, Business Continuity Planning

UNC Charlotte