Memorandum

Chancellor Woodson and I, Vice Chancellor Douglass, reviewed and accepted a recommendation to eliminate the Business Continuity Department and to establish a new department of Emergency Management and Mission Continuity (EMMC). The goal of this restructuring is to improve institutional emergency planning and continuity by expanding emergency planning outreach and to fortify university preparedness and response.

While the impact of an emergency or disruption is unpredictable, planning for such conditions can largely mitigate the effects to our facilities’ operations and allow us to continue our fulfillment of the university’s mission.  It is crucial we respond to a disaster or a major disruption of operations in a manner that ensures vital and essential functions continue with minimum interference. While the University’s Emergency Operations Plan acts as the master planning document, department-specific plans are necessary to gain organizational detail of critical processes, people, and property to provide for adequate preparation. Further, these plans are required documents for outside disaster management and support agencies – local, state, federal – to demonstrate the university’s mitigation efforts ahead of unplanned events.

Business Continuity Plans exist for 120 critical services, departments and academic units. These plans provide for the continuance of critical processes in the event an emergency thwarts facility operations, access to information technology resources or infrastructure, and/or the university experiences a long-term power-outage.

In coordination with EMMC, these plans – now referred to as Pack Ready Plans – will expand to include a comprehensive risk assessment of possible impacts to NC State University.  Potential risks will be used to develop unit-specific plans to assist the university fulfill its mission and to define procedures in place that reduce exposure to these vulnerabilities/threats, as well as evaluate their probability of occurrence.

Completed plans are subject to annual review and testing, and will require signature by the Department Head/Director, Vice Chancellor, Vice Provost, or Dean. EMMC will coordinate plan testing and audit  exercises, held bi-annually or more frequently if appropriate. Delinquent plans or exercise schedules will be escalated to the Emergency Planning and Mission Continuity Steering Committee for discussion. 

Any questions regarding Pack Ready Planning efforts should be directed to Dr. Amy Orders, (aborders@ncsu.edu, (919.515.5208).

We appreciate your assistance with this planning effort.