CSHEMA Innovation Award (2017) University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Emergency Management Program Process Improvement (Category) Successfully design or re-engineer program (Area) Improving service delivery method in response to a campus need (Area) Although the campus has had various emergency management approaches over the past 25 years, Mr. James Caesar and his team has completely re-engineered the program to focus on both campus, local and regional emergency management needs for the past 8 years. The program has been built on leadership commitment and well defined organizational procedures to assure that recognized emergency management situations are evaluated, risk classified and prioritized to assure appropriate planning, coordination and response can occur effectively and efficiently. The program is based on a number of critical elements, starting with executive management commitment, allocation of appropriate resources and development of organizational infrastructure (consisting of both professional and community volunteer staff). In order to provide clarification on the substantial and impressive efforts undertaken by the UCSB Emergency Management team, please review the following elements of the program for consideration in awarding the CSHEMA Innovation Award: 1. Executive leadership support UCSB 2017 CSHEMA INNOVATION AWARD Page 1
The team has created a culture where Campus executive leadership are committed and engaged in emergency management activity. Campus senior leadership are actively engaged in the development and implementation of a comprehensive Campus Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) which is reviewed and updated annually. 2. Establishment of Emergency Planning Committee The Campus established an executive level emergency management committee which is chaired by UCSB s Vice-Chancellor of Administrative services. The membership includes senior leaders from all relevant campus organizations and meets monthly to discuss and evaluate emergency management issues affecting Campus. The monthly meetings are well attended and consist of tabletop exercises focused on possible events affecting campus. These monthly meetings were established in 2014 and continue with the same enthusiasm and energy as when they were first established. Scenarios have ranged from student protests, community shelter operations, earthquake, flooding and various public health events. 3. Development, coordination and operation of primary Campus Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and supporting auxiliary operations facilities The Emergency Management team established an EOC that has been used for UCSB specific and regional emergencies. The EOC was designed based on standard Incident Command System (ICS) protocols and has current communication infrastructure to manage potential Campus emergency events. The EOC has a large meeting room, an auxiliary policy breakout room, kitchen facilities and an independent emergency generator. The EOC is inspected quarterly for operability of facilities and emergency equipment. 4. Development of Community Emergency Response Volunteer infrastructure UCSB 2017 CSHEMA INNOVATION AWARD Page 2
UCSB continues it leadership role with the community through the Aware and Prepare Initiative. The Initiative helps foster Santa Barbara County-wide programs including Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Emergency Public Information Communicators (EPIC), Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) and the grass roots Spanish preparedness program Listos. In January 2017, UCSB conducted its 41 st CERT class since 2009, which resulted the training of almost eight hundred community members. 5. Campus-wide implementation of NFPA 1600 standard requirements Emergency Management staff implemented the requirements of the National Fire Protection Association s National Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business/Continuity of Operations Programs (NFPA 1600) starting in FY 2007. The UC system has voluntarily adopted this stringent standard and has conducted an annual evaluation exercise to establish performance measures related to implementation of the standards requirements within campus operations. Adherence to NFPA 1600 requirements have consistently improved yearafter-year, with a March 2017 score of 207 out of a possible 219 point scale (UCSB s program scored in the 95 th percentile based on NFPA 1600 measurable criteria). 6. Local and Regional Emergency Management support Due to the geographic location of UCSB, the University plays a major role in local and regional emergency management activity. UCSB staff has a desk allocated at the Santa Barbara County Regional Emergency Operations Center and campus staff routinely interact and train with local and regional emergency management professionals. In addition, Mr. Caesar is a recognized expert in the region, serving on the recruitment committee for the Santa Barbara County Director of Emergency Management. UCSB 2017 CSHEMA INNOVATION AWARD Page 3
7. Development of Campus Business Continuity Program The emergency management team developed a list of Campus Essential Functions, based on the FEMA National Essential Functions criteria that has been adopted by UCSB and the entire University of California System as a standard. In addition, the team has implemented the UC Ready Business Continuity system, which involved developing specific plans for critical campus organizations, including facilities management, housing and the office of research. The campus has developed dozens of individual department plans, conducted numerous Business Impact analysis (BIAs) exercises and have worked diligently to create an appreciation for the development of current/accurate business continuity plans. 8. Development of Emergency Management Campus Resources Provided is a narrative of Mr. Caesar s educational journey to establish his team as a significant resource on Campus. During his career, he has attended 120 emergency management themed training opportunities. In addition, he has completed 96 FEMA independent study courses (including earning the FEMA professional Development Series certificate). In 2014, he attained the prestigious California Office of Emergency Management Services (CalOES) Emergency Management Specialist certificate. I include this to demonstrate the level of commitment that Mr. Caesar and the UCSB organization has invested in building a world-class program. 9. Development of Campus Emergency Management Communication Infrastructure Working with campus partners, the emergency management team has implemented multiple campus notification systems. Most notably, worked with our Campus Enterprise Technology Division and University Police Department to successfully roll out the Everbridge notification UCSB 2017 CSHEMA INNOVATION AWARD Page 4
system on Campus which directly communicates to over 60, 000 users in the event of a campus emergency. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of our program, please review the following events where the Campus EOC was activated and campus emergency management staff established procedures, protocols and emergency management infrastructure to support the organization in managing major emergency events. As a result of the items listed above, UCSB was prepared and effectively managed the following Campus Emergency major events: 1. 2009 Regional Wildfires with UCSB being a American Red Cross shelter for over 900 community members. 2. 2013 Campus Menigococcal Serogroup B Outbreak (20,000 + students vaccinated) 3. 2014 Isla Vista Mass Shooting (6 UCSB students were killed and 9 injured in this tragedy) 4. 2014 Civil unrest event (Isla Visit Deltopia Event involving estimated 25,000 people) 5. 2015 Refugio Beach Oil Spill (affected UCSB Coal Point Natural Reserve) UCSB continues to be a leader nationally, regionally and locally regarding how we plan for and manage emergency events which occur on Campus. The coordination and management of our Campus Emergency Management process is a source of pride and has been a valuable tool for continuing our Universities core mission during a significant number of catastrophic events which have occurred. Project Manager: James Caesar, Emergency Services Manager, UCSB Respectfully submitted by: John Sterritt, Director UCSB EH&S (805-698-0993/jsterritt@ucsb.edu) UCSB 2017 CSHEMA INNOVATION AWARD Page 5