Evacuations

The evacuation of campus buildings or the entire campus may be required due to emergency situations occurring on or near campus. Whenever possible a campus evacuation will be done in a systematic, controlled, and planned manner. The goal of all evacuations will be the safe and orderly evacuation of all affected personnel.

University Building Marshal Program

To facilitate the safe evacuation of campus buildings and help inform emergency responders to urgent needs the campus utilizes the Building Marshal Program. This program is staffed by specially trained volunteers who work in the individual classroom and office buildings on campus. When an evacuation is warranted, the building marshals are responsible for:

• Assisting in the safe and complete evacuation of a building.
• Assisting University Police in preventing entry by non-emergency responders until the building has been deemed safe
• Reporting injured or trapped persons to emergency responders.

Staging Areas

In order to facilitate the safe and orderly evacuation of the campus the Staging Area System may be used to control the evacuation. This system would normally be used following a major disaster where the buildings have been ruled uninhabitable and a full campus evacuation has been ordered. The University currently maintains two primary Staging Areas and two secondary Staging Areas:

Under the Staging Area System people are evacuated from their buildings and moved to one of the staging areas. There they are held until for a period of time until the roadways have been deemed safe and open or it is decided that they must be sheltered on campus.

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