Pandemic Planning

August 31, 2006

Participants

BOR: Sam Gingerich, Jim Shekleton, Monte Kramer, Janice Minder, Josh Riedy

RIS: Warren Wilson, Trudy Zalud

BHSU: George Earley, Judith Haislett, Myron Sullivan

SDSMT: Tim Henderson

SDSU: Mike Adelaine, Mike Reger, Roberta Olson, Marysz Rames

USD: Royce Engstrom, Terisa Remelius, Diane Zak

DSU, USDSU, STI, DSU: participation via conference phone

Two-Level Plan

1)First 3 weeks:

  • Total shutdown
  • Essential functions only identified
  • Essential staffing only identified
  • Plans identified for Regents, including staffing and supplies

2)Second 3 weeks:

  • Plans identified for ramping up of staff needs
  • Plans identified for ramping up of administration needs
  • Plans identified for ramping up of student activities

The campus leadership working with Board/Board Staff will make the decision to shut down. The Department of Health will pay a lot of attention with the first case identified to contain the outbreak. After the first outbreak however there is no stopping it.

It will be crucial that the President or designee be the liaison between the campus and Emergency Management and Dept of Health. The administration of the campus must know what is going on with the local DOH and emergency management officials. The university must know if the local community officials plan to use any university facilities and how that will affect the university and university plans.

IT will hold this all together. TAC or Warren’s IT groups should meet and make sure they have their plans identified for increased usage during a shutdown.

TO DO NOW:

1)Schedule training for staff and students during health emergencies on how to protect themselves – try to use the county health officials. Best is face to face and also handouts. Have handouts ready to distribute should a pandemic occur.

2)Cross training for staff of essential functions on campus.

3)Who is the campus liaison with the local DOH and emergency management officials? How does the President fit into this? Campuses need to know what their local community plans are.

4)TAC/IT – Need to have plans identified.

5)Housing of Students – need to be able to report to the Regents what we will do if we need to house these students? How will we feed them? Who is monitoring the students in the residence halls? How are we going to handle the infirmaries? These quarantined students may require additional staffing in some areas.

6)Food service and housing will be needed for essential staff that choose to stay on campus. If these people become ill, how will they be handled?

Student planning

Student life program – looking at a quarantined setting and keeping students occupied and out of mischief. If we’re in a closed down mode, probably no student labor so staff support will also be down.

Financial Aid

  • Need to plan to staff to meet the federal reporting processes
  • Normal flu season will overlap the busiest financial aid workload time
  • Feels they need to have full staff available
  • Will need to make contacts in the near future to try to get assistance from federal education agencies

Registrars

  • Workload during transition of semesters is huge workload
  • Need back-up training done now
  • If shutdown is during peak time, no reduction of staff

Recruitment/Admissions

  • Maybe 70% staff level
  • Significant personnel needed during a critical period
  • These functions need to be staffed if the shut down is during the crucial timeframe

Career development and placement

  • Staff can be dropped back
  • Possible scheduling concerns
  • Staff doesn’t necessarily need to be on-campus

Counseling/Student Health Services

  • Obviously very important
  • No reduction in staff
  • Dept of Health & local clinics may provide assistance
  • Possibly nursing students under supervision can be used on campuses with those programs

Student Union

  • Should remain open -30% staffing
  • Need someplace for students with cabin fever to go
  • Open only to on-campus students

Athletic/Wellness Centers

  • Can plan to scale back on staff
  • Skeleton staffing- 30% staffing
  • In shut down mode – probably no practices or competitions
  • Some types of wellness for students could continue

Judicial Affairs

  • Very important
  • Maintain student conduct and enforce rules
  • Residence hall staff will be in the halls and use them wherever possible
  • Should use the same emergency approach context that was used for the mumps

Library Functions

  • Could close library as long as internet access is available

Bookstore

  • Minimal staffing- 70%
  • Won’t be much traffic unless it’s during the peak book sale time
  • Reduction of part-time staff

Event Planning

  • Close to full staff to plan/cancel events and get the word out

Student Groups

  • Some staffing needed to work with off-campus groups, i.e. Greek

Security

  • Very important
  • Full staffing- increased staff needed in critical periods

IT Access

  • Very critical
  • Full staff for bandwith support
  • Very heavy usage by staff and students during shutdown

Disability Services

  • Will vary for each campus

Infirmaries

  • Plans developed by SAC in 2004

Administration planning

Technology

  • Full staffed
  • Critical need – networking will be essential
  • Need to staff for computer support too

Human Resources

  • Critical – will have people who don’t want to come in, people who will be ill
  • Will have students and staff asking about their benefits

Purchasing/Business Offices

  • May need to purchase supplies
  • Need to be able to issue checks
  • Some of the checks are for student living and they will need the money

Waste Removal

  • Still need to have waste removed from buildings – this is a contract issue

Food Services

  • Need to have staff to feed the people who are well
  • Contracts for food service need to be worked out in case of shut down
  • Need staff to feed the people who are on campus and ill

Maintenance

  • Maybe a smaller staff needed but it’s a critical staff
  • Make sure utilities are up and running
  • Security in a closed environment

University Relations

  • Critical need
  • Parents concerned about their kids
  • Community information
  • Post info on internet sites

Security

  • Fully staffed with new or additional duties in a shut down mode

Grants Office

  • May have some critical research that cannot be stopped
  • Skeleton staff

Public Events & Athletics

  • Shut down

Contracts

  • On-going management – garbage to pick up, food to deliver

Core Team

  • Administrative team – identified

Health Services

  • Critical need
  • Some campuses contract out but not all
  • Hospital beds may be full
  • Health services for students

Financial Aid

  • Staffing depends on when the pandemic happens

Registrar

  • Critical but minimal staffing
  • Depends on when the pandemic happens

Animal Welfare

  • Need to have staff to care for animals

If something isn’t mentioned, they felt it would be shut down.

Academic planning

If a semester is a certain percent (75-90%) complete when an outbreak occurs, the semester would be declared complete. (AAC will need to discuss this.)

If it’s less than this percent complete, the following process would be used during the 6-8 weeks of the outbreak:

First 2 weeks – shut down

After 2 weeks –

  • decision should be made as to a date to start back up
  • the institution would make the announcement

Weeks 4-5 –

  • review the schedule of the outbreak with IT and with the HS and TI’s

Week 6 –

  • need to review staffing
  • Some staff may still be ill
  • May need to make workload adjustments

Academic calendar:

  • will have to work to determine when the end of the “semester” will occur –
  • needs to work it out so the system as a whole can move forward (common processes procedures in Colleague) –
  • need to discuss more with financial aid

Off-Campus Sites:

  • Different levels of complexity
  • USDSU bigger complex so scheduling would be needed between 3 institutions with USD taking the lead
  • Outbreaks are usually local – if BHSU is affected, RC will probably also be affected – same with USDSU, if they are affected, Madison, Brookings, SF and Vermillion will probably all be affected

Shutting down courses:

  • Limited to where the course is offered – doesn’t make sense to shut down CUC if the pandemic is limited to Vermillion for example
  • Issue incompletes to all students a possibility – but would need to discuss this further on campuses

Registration Period:

  • Common calendar
  • Most done online
  • May need to share facilities for off-campus students
  • IT plays a big part

Research:

  • Will need to identify projects that need support
  • Identify staffing needs for those projects
  • Identify facility needs for those projects

Library:

  • Can be closed

IT:

  • Crucial
  • Critical that there is enough available for students, staff working off-campus
  • Computer support

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