OU smartens security with critical response team
By Luke Wright, Staff Writer
September 25, 2007 | 5:44 p.m.
Since the tragedy of Virginia Tech, universities nationwide have revamped their security measures tenfold, and Ohio University is no exception.
Annually recognized as one of the most secure universities in Ohio, OU has taken no chances with the safety of its students and faculty. To uphold its pristine reputation, OU formed the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT).
Prompted by the arrival of William Decatur, vice president for finance and administration, the CIRT has grown immensely over one year. The team has re-envisioned safety on OU's campus and is composed of high-ranking OU staff members, including David Hopka, assistant vice president for safety and risk management; Jill Harris, emergency programs coordinator; and John Kotowski, associate vice president for facilities.
"The CIRT was something the institute felt needed to be addressed," Kotowski said. "Essentially, some of the leadership at the university was saying, 'Hey, are we really ready to take on a serious emergency?'"
Although much has been accomplished by this emergency team, Kotowski admitted that the CIRT is still young and has a great amount of work ahead. "We're in a lot of ways in the early stages of trying to get ourselves set up," he said. "One of the big things I think we are doing right now is developing an organizational structure."
The organizational structure is not in place to plan a course of action for specific disasters but to adapt accordingly to a variety of unforeseeable emergencies.
Kotowski explained that the process of adaptation comes naturally with the organizational structure. "What we have done is step away from [planning for specific emergencies] and say, 'Let's just get the infrastructure in place. Let's let everyone know their roles.... Let's try to make sure we are ready to respond,'" he said.
Further clarifying the organization structure, Kotowski explained that each member holds a specific job. For example, as vice president for facilities, he would be responsible for assessing the situation if there were a building-related emergency. "If a bomb went off, my role would be to assess the structural condition, find out if it's safe or not safe," he said.
Another integral aspect of the team is communication with the rest of campus. "Marketing and communications have developed, and are continuing to develop, a communication process," Kotowski said.
Part of that process involves creating a massive database of every student's cell phone number, so that in case an emergency does occur, every student would be notified via text message of the situation.
Also, the CIRT is trying to establish a "loudspeaker," similar to that of the tornado siren system, that will be used to inform the student and faculty bodies of an emergency on campus.
To test the members' responsiveness, a mock emergency was recently conducted to review the speed at which the team could convene in case of a true crisis. "Our end result, as David Hopka would say, is that we responded pretty quickly," Kotowski said.
Even though OU is one of the safest universities in Ohio, students and faculty can all sleep better knowing that the administration is always looking to improve itself and the safety of its number one asset: the students.
"This group will help to make the campus a little safer, a little better for everybody who's here," Kotowski said.
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