Executive Authority
During an emergency, the President (or the next most senior available administrator) has ultimate responsibility and authority for declaring a “state of campus emergency,” setting the direction as to how the emergency will be managed, and making key executive decisions. He/she is assisted and advised by the Emergency Policy Group and the Emergency Operations Group. Field operations responsibility will remain under the direction of an on-scene Incident Commander.
Emergency Policy Group The Emergency Policy Group will be comprised primarily of the members of the President’s Cabinet, including:
President (Convener)
Provost & VP for Academic Affairs (Back-up Convener)
Vice President of Finance & Administration
Vice President of Student Life
Vice President for Enrollment Management
In addition, the following individuals will as deemed necessary participate in the work of the Emergency Policy Group:
Chair of Emergency Operations Group (for incident response purposes)
Director of Communications
Role of Emergency Policy Group:
Approve overall priorities & strategies
Approve public information reports & instructions
Liaison with governments & external organizations
Emergency Operations Group: The Emergency Operations Group (EOG) may include individuals in the following positions, depending upon the Level and scope of the incident.
Vice President of Student Life (co-chair)
Director of Facilities (co-chair)
Director of Campus Security
Director of Residence Life
Director of Communications
Director of the Wellness Center
Information Technology/Library Information Services Manager
Director of Human Resources
Director of Auxiliary Services
President of the Faculty Council
Other individuals as deemed advisable or necessary.
Role of EOG:
Gathers, confirms & evaluates incident information
Develops incident action plan to resolve specific priority situations
Identifies resource needs & shortfalls
Reassigns/deploys individuals in support of critical needs
Links to local, state, and/or federal emergency coordination centers
Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
In cases of general widespread emergencies (Level 4 or 5), the EOG’s leader will activate an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that will serve as the workspace for the EOG and as a Multi-Agency Command (MAC) Post for incidents crossing jurisdictional boundaries. Normally, it will be located at a specially-equipped conference room, but under certain conditions (including power outage) it can be established at a designated back-up location, or anywhere necessary telecommunication and data support facilities exist. It may operate from a few hours, to a few days, weeks or months, depending upon the severity of the emergency.
The Oberkirch conference room on the Second Floor of Pollock will ordinarily be the site of any EOC; the Office of the Vice President of Student Life will ordinarily be the back-up site.
If the nature of the incident requires an Emergency Operations Center and for the Emergency Operations Group to assemble, then the appropriate Co-Chair of the Emergency Operations Group (dependent on the nature and/or level of the event) will designate the following functions as appropriate and necessary to manage the event and restore order to campus. These functions are defined through NIMS.
Incident Commander
Deputy Incident Commander
Public Information Officer
Safety Officer
Liaison Officer (who will coordinate communications and operations with outside agency representatives)
Operations Chief
Logistics Chief
Finance Chief
Planning Chief (note: if circumstances warrant, an Intelligence Chief will be appointed)
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Faculty, directors or content experts from impacted units may be asked to join the EOG and/or serve such functions as the situation dictates. In emergency situations that involve the Town of Poultney or surrounding municipalities, representatives from public emergency response agencies (Fire, VT State Police, EMS, Public Works) that serve the campus will be asked to provide Agency Representatives to the GMC Emergency Operations Center.