July 27, 2007
Memo for: Business Continuity Planning Committee
Subject: Minutes of the July 27, 2007 Meeting
A meeting of the Business Continuity Plan Management Committee was held on
Friday, July 27, 2007, in Room 208 Cone Center.
1.
Attendance:
a.
Present: Rob Covert, Carla Flowers, David Gray, Bill
Harper, Carter Heath, Laura Horsky, Larry Howell, John Jacobs, Norm Lefebvre,
John Mack, Paul Nowell, Mark Reynolds, Brian Richardson, Morgan Roseborough, Wally
Seigler, Doug Thomas, Cynthia Wolf Johnson
b.
Absent:
Dixie Airey, Kathi Baucom, John Bland, Susan Brooks, Gary Caton,
2.
Main
topics / issues:
a.
Welcome: Morgan welcomed
the group and introduced several ongoing issues and initiatives relevant to the
committee.
b.
PIER. Morgan reported that PIER became our primary
crisis communications system on July 1, 2007.
Since the contract with MissionMode expired on June 30th, we
are now using PIER for emergency notification of all of the key contacts that
were previously included in MissionMode.
To date, UNC Charlotte has about 70 people who have received a basic
level of PIER training that will enable them to create and send messages,
documents, and prepare responses to inquiries.
A significant issue is still pending resolution – migration of the
Banner data (phone numbers, email addresses) into PIER. PIER, along with
c.
VA Tech Issues Task Groups. The Chancellor
directed that we establish/appoint task groups to work on several issues and to
report back to the Council at a later date.
Morgan reported that two of the task groups (Campus Evacuation and
Mental Health) had held meetings and that the mental health task group had a
draft policy for involuntary withdrawal of students with medical or
psychological issues which pose a threat to themselves or to others. The remaining groups had not yet held
meetings.
d.
Risk Management.
Morgan addressed the topic of
Enterprise Risk Management, describing how we currently have independent
operations and planning in the areas of physical security, information
security, business continuity planning, safety, emergency management and
physical plant operations. Under an ERM
program, all of these elements work in coordination with each other, and every
part of the organization has responsibility in those areas at their own
levels. When risks are identified any of
these (or other) areas, there are basically four alternatives:
(1) Accept the risk (and be prepared to pay for the
consequences)
(2) Insure against the risk (protecting you from financial
loss), or
(3) Transfer the risk (through outsourcing or contracting)
to someone else.
(4) Implement internal controls that reduce the probability
of an undesirable event from occurring.
A
new Risk Management Officer position has been approved to serve as the
University director and coordinator of Enterprise Risk Management.
e.
Plans and Contact Information. Morgan
displayed the current status of contact information and recovery items (COOPs
and other documents) managed by CPO Tracker.
Compared to the last meeting (5/07), we have reduced the number of
people with out of date contact information to 5 (of 294). The number of out of date planning documents
(COOPs and others) has dropped from 60 to 32 (out of 141). This improvement is primarily due to the
system of regular reminders that Cathy Bolen started in May. But, you don’t have to wait for Cathy to send
you a reminder; you can update your contact information and plans at any
time.
f.
Pandemic Flu Update. Morgan reported on the
“Pandemic Flu Summit” held at UNC General Administration earlier this month. Representatives from most UNC System
institutions were present. A number of
new topics were addressed that my cause some modifications to our Pandemic Flu
Response Plan. Among them were:
(1) Financial – policy for refund of tuition and fees.
(2) Communication – use of the PIER System for internal
business as well as external communication of current University status of
operation.
(3) Human Resources – a policy regarding compensation of
EPA non-faculty personnel during closure of the University.
(4) Closure Criteria – new guidance from CDC on assessing
the “threat level” and recommended actions to be taken.
(5) Academic Issues – policy for awarding academic credit,
continuation of instruction on an amended schedule, continuation of instruction
on-line.
(6) Tabletop Exercise – Each UNC System institution is to
conduct a tabletop exercise in September, using a standard scenario provided by
David Rainer of NC State.
(7) Report to GA – An after-action report on the tabletop
exercise must be submitted to GA in October.
(1)
Disaster Scenario. Morgan led the group in a
tabletop exercise that involved a gas line break that took place during a
normal class day. Topics of discussion
included:
a.
Communication –
implementation of the warning message to the Campus Warning Team using
PIER. A concern was raised about
notifying 3rd shift (and weekend) personnel, since they may not be aware
of the incident or have access to campus warning channels. Most of these (housekeepers, maintenance
personnel, etc), are equipped with radios, so their supervisors should have the
ability to contact them.
b.
Siren – a
question was asked concerning use of the outdoor warning siren for this type of
incident. Since this incident did not
pose a threat to the entire campus, and since the siren procedures direct
people to go indoors to seek shelter, it was not appropriate in this situation.
c.
Re-entry of
facilities after hours – A comment was made that, when buildings are evacuated
after normal work hours, it is difficult to determine when it is safe to
re-enter the building. There is no
protocol or procedure to notify building occupants that it is safe to re-enter. It was suggested that each building have a
designated after hours point of contact, who would be notified by the Incident
Commander when it is safe to re-enter.
The point of contact would, in turn, notify other building
occupants. This is not an issue during
normal work hours when the organizational chain of command, and the building
liaison is normally present.
g.
Proposed date for the next meeting: The next
meeting of the committee is scheduled for 10:00 AM on Friday, September 28,
2007, in Room 208 Cone Center.
3. The meeting
adjourned at 11:25 AM.
Morgan Roseborough
Director, Business Continuity
Planning
UNC