Crisis Communications Plan

Purpose

This plan provides guidelines for communicating within the University of Washington Bothell and Cascadia College, as well as from the campus to the media and the public, in the event of an emergency, crisis, or incident where there is a need to provide crucial information immediately.

Disasters, emergencies, incidents and issues disrupt the campuses’ normal activities and may require activation of the campus all-hazards Emergency Management Plan. This Crisis Communications Plan describes how to share vital information to members of the UW Bothell and Cascadia College community and the public.

This plan is to be flexibly used with emergency decision-making procedures of the university and college.

Elements should be tested at least twice a year in conjunction with campuswide emergency alert drills.

Objectives

  1. Determine whether the situation requires invoking this plan.
  2. Assemble the Core Crisis Communication Group [Core Group] to recommend responses.
  3. Implement immediate actions to:
    a) Preserve life safety
    b) Assure incident stabilization
    c) Preserve property and environment
    d) Respond to communications and actions that may be offensive
    e) Identify key constituencies who need to be informed
    f) Communicate facts about the situation and minimize rumors
    g) Restore a sense of confidence and order

Procedures

  1. Assess: People who become aware of a potential crisis or emergency must contact the public information officer for their campus. The UW Bothell and Cascadia College Public Information Officers, Sr Director of Campus Safety, Emergency Preparedness Manager, Sr Director of Facilities Services or the person with the most information about the incident/emergency/issue will invoke this plan and convene the Core Group.

    NOTE: 9-1-1 should be the first point of contact for life-threatening incidents.
  2. The Core Crisis Communication Group will consist of the following:
    UW Bothell: 1) Vice Chancellor for Planning & Administration; 2) Sr Director for Facilities Services & Campus Operations; 3) Sr Director of Campus Safety; 4) Emergency Operations Manager; 5) PIO

    Cascadia College: 1) Vice President for External Relations and Planning; 2) PIO

    or their designated representatives.
  3. Timeliness is essential in communicating crucial information to the campus community and the news media, and the team will be assembled immediately. Based on the timing, location, and severity of the incident(s) or event(s), this may occur either in person or virtually.
  4. In the event of an imminent threat to the campus community, Core Group activation may be delayed and an alert with emergency instructions or information will be distributed to campus via Omnilert. Once the message has been sent, the Core Group will convene on a conference call as soon as possible.
  5. All incidents, emergencies, or issues that may cause disruption to normal campus operations or have a high-level impact on UW Bothell/Cascadia College shall engage the Core Group and create an incident into the Rapid Responder program for notification, tracking and documentation.
  6. The call-in number for the meeting will be by conference call. Once the Core Group is on the call, a briefing will be conducted to provide situational awareness of the incident and determine further action.
  7. The Emergency Executive Policy Group and the rest of the Crisis Communication Team will be informed of the activation and updated as necessary by the Vice Chancellor of Planning & Administration or designee, as well as other appropriate campus officials.

    The Emergency Executive Policy Group oversees and provides policy recommendations to the university chancellor/college president and provides policy direction for emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery planning activities.

    The Emergency Executive Policy Group consists of the following units and individuals or designated alternates:

UW Bothell Members

  • Chancellor
  • Vice Chancellor for Planning & Administration
  • Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
  • Vice Chancellor for Advancement & External Relations
  • Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs
  • Assistant Vice Chancellor, Organizational Excellence & Human Resources
  • Assistant Vice Chancellor, Information Technologies
  • Assistant Vice Chancellor for Marketing & Communications
  • Assistant Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • Sr Director of Facilities Services
  • Sr Director of Campus Safety
  • Director of Communications/PIO
  • Dean of Student Affairs

Cascadia Members

  • President
  • Vice President for Student Learning and Success
  • Vice President for Administrative Services and Human Resources
  • Vice President for External Relations and Planning
  • Executive Director of Equity and Inclusion
  • Director of Facilities
  • Director of Outreach and Marketing/PIO
  1. Crisis Communication Team: The Crisis Communication Team comprises people whose organizations may play a critical role in addressing the crisis, including representatives of the following [Core Group in bold]:
  • Office of Marketing & Communications (UW Bothell)
  • Office of the Vice Chancellor for Planning & Administration (UW Bothell)
  • Campus Safety (UW Bothell)
  • Facilities Services (UW Bothell)
  • Director of Outreach & Marketing, PIO (Cascadia)
  • Back-up PIO (Cascadia)
  • Director of Facilities (Cascadia)
  • Emergency Operations Manager (Cascadia)
  • Office of the Chancellor
  • VCAA Leadership Council
  • Enterprise Risk Management
  • Organizational Excellence & Human Resources
  • Information Technology
  • Student Affairs
  • Transportation Services
  • Attorney General’s Office
  • The affected unit(s)

Personnel designated as essential staff shall be alerted as needed depending on the severity and nature of the incident.

The Crisis Communication Team will authorize the following activities:

a) Designate Team Leader: Generally, this is the individual who has direct knowledge of the events or the PIO or designee. The individual selected will be based on the nature of the incident and have the highest credibility and understanding of the events surrounding the crisis.

b) Notifying key constituencies: The Core Group will determine which groups need to be informed first.

Key constituencies include:

  • students
  • faculty
  • staff
  • campus visitors
  • parents/families of students
  • Communications Council
  • Chancellor’s Advisory Board (UWB)
  • Board of Regents (UWB)
  • Board of Trustees (CC)
  • UW Seattle leadership
  • Alumni Council (UWB)
  • community partners
  • public officials and agencies
  • first responders
  • school districts
  • international programs
  • neighbors
  • media

c) Fact sheet: As soon as possible after the incident, a fact sheet may be prepared to supplement communication with key constituencies and information provided to reporters. It will be approved by the UW Bothell chancellor and the Cascadia College president or their designees and checked for accuracy by those with direct knowledge of the crisis. Fact sheets released publicly or posted to the Internet must be time-stamped and updated as information changes.

d) Alerting the media: The PIOs will decide on the best way to reach the news media. In cases where a crisis is likely to be prolonged and/or especially complex, they may choose to create a Joint Information and/or a news media briefing center to coordinate the information flow and ensure that the right people are involved in collecting and disseminating information. Consideration will be given to appropriate media staging locations that can accommodate vehicles such as satellite trucks.

Information from news briefings may be captured in audio and video and be posted online, along with updated fact sheets.

The official UW Bothell information page during an incident is www.uwb.edu/emergency.

The official Cascadia College information page during an incident is www.cascadia.edu/emergency.

In general, UW Bothell and Cascadia College will welcome news media and allow them as much access as public safety permits. PIOs will facilitate access to key knowledgeable individuals and respond quickly to as many requests as possible.

Communication must occur early and often but be confined to the facts. All information must be conveyed with an eye toward what will be most important to various publics.

NOTE: Only a PIO can serve as a spokesperson unless and until another person has been designated by the PIO. Additionally, only the PIO, other members of the Core Group, the chancellor of UW Bothell or president of Cascadia College or designees can authorize message content and distribution.

Plan Testing and Validation

This plan shall be updated and tested at least twice a year. Full activation of the plan will be incorporated into the UW Bothell/Cascadia College annual Emergency Operations Center disaster exercise.

Responsibility for updating the Crisis Communications Plan rests with the UW Bothell/Cascadia College PIOs.

After-action Reports/Review

The Core Group and others involved with the incident will meet on the first business day following the resolution of the incident.

General topics for discussion include:

  • incident summary
  • incident start time
  • Core Group activation start time
  • Core Group deactivation time
  • conference call etiquette
  • situational awareness
  • decision-making
  • Crisis Communications Team roles and responsibilities
  • communication channels and stats
  • Teams messaging/chat
  • UW Bothell Omnilert (includes Cascadia College)
  • UW Bothell emergency blog
  • Cascadia College emergency status page
  • webpage banners
  • social media
  • UW Bothell hotline
  • UW Bothell indoor alert
  • UW Bothell outdoor alert
  • building p.a. system [all buildings]
  • Alertus [UW Bothell/Cascadia
  • radios
  • Other Core Group Tools
  • conference bridge
  • Rapid Responder
  • message content
  • feedback
  • all clear

History

Revised: 05/15/2024