A Crisis Management Team has been established as an administrative decision-making group to respond to critical incidents that may occur at Oakland University. Critical incidents are generally defined as those campus-wide emergencies that threaten life or property, or those which impact a significant portion of the university community (including, but not limited to, major fires, civil disturbances, and weather disasters). The Crisis Management Team’s purpose is to assist with decision-making, communications flow and operational response capability.
The Crisis Management Team comprises:
- University President – serves as Team Leader
- Vice President for Finance and Administration – serves as Alternate Team Leader
- Chief of Police – OUPD – serves as Team Coordinator
- Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
- Vice President for Student Affairs
- Vice President for Legal Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees
- Vice President for Development, Alumni and Community Engagement
- Vice President for Outreach
- Vice President for Government and Community Relations
- Media Relations Director
- Assistant Director, Media Relations
- Associate Vice President for Facilities Management
- Chief Information Officer
- Executive Assistant to the President
- Health and Life Safety Manager
- Other members as needed and determined by the Team
In the event of a crisis, the Chief of Police, or designee, will brief the Vice President for Finance and Administration regarding an impending or actual critical incident. The Vice President for Finance and Administration will immediately apprise the President of the situation, and a decision whether to call the Crisis Management Team into action is rendered. If a decision is reached to activate the Crisis Management Team, the Vice President for Finance and Administration will subsequently conduct direct notifications in the following order:
- Chief of Police
- Media Relations Director
- Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
- Vice President for Student Affairs
- Associate Vice President for Facilities Management
- Chief Information Officer
- Vice President for Legal Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees
- Vice President for Development, Alumni and Community Engagement
- Vice President for Government and Community Relations
- Vice President for Outreach
- Executive Assistant to the President
The Chief of Police will notify the Health and Life Safety Manager. During this initial notification, members may be placed on “stand-by” or directed to report immediately to a specific meeting location. Once activated, the members of the Crisis Management Team will set aside all other duties and place the critical incident as their top priority. This priority is also be extended to their various subordinates deemed appropriate depending on the nature of the specific incident.
It is the responsibility of each member of the Crisis Management Team to provide for an alternate individual to carry out the assigned responsibilities in his/her absence and to inform the Chief of Police of said organizational backup.
All members of the Crisis Management Team have a copy of the university’s Emergency Response Plan. The plan identifies and describes both general and specific responsibilities of the various Crisis Management Team members when they have been activated to deal with a critical incident. The Emergency Response Plan is reviewed, tested, and updated at least annually.