Colleges share grants for emergency management plans
By CC Times, Published July 9, 2009

Seven community colleges are among the 26 colleges and universities sharing $9.7 million in federal grants to develop and strengthen their emergency management plans.

“Sending your children off to college can be difficult enough, but you shouldn’t have to worry about their safety and how well a campus is prepared to handle emergencies,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement announcing the colleges. “These grants will ensure that campuses have the resources to develop comprehensive emergency plans that involve the community.”

The selected two-year colleges include Miami Dade College (Florida), the Research Foundation of City University of New York in care of John Jay College, Prairie State College (Illinois), Johnson County Community College (Kansas), Community College of Allegheny County (Pennsylvania), Peninsula College (Washington) and Laramie County Community College (Wyoming).

Grantees must address the four phases of emergency management—prevention-mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The colleges may use the funds to update existing emergency management plans, test the vunerability of campus facilities, train campus staff and students, organize small exercises or large-scale drills, collaborate with local first responders and community partners, and develop or enhance plans for preventing violence on campus by assessing and addressing the mental health needs of students who may be at risk of causing campus violence.

The grants come through the U.S. Department of Education’s Emergency Management for Higher Education program, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration.