Talking Stick - September/October 2008 - 33

university, with the surrounding community, with the media, and with parents and families. According to Dr. Laura Wankel, vice president of student affairs and enrollment services at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, “Communication and cooperation are critical. They are the necessary ingredients for any emergency plan that is meaningful and effective.” Plans should be as concise and as uncomplicated as possible. Susan Austin, associate director of facilities at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, points out that if there is too much information, staff are unlikely to remember it in a crisis: “No one is going to go back to an office to get a book off a shelf in a crisis.” Having a clear protocol related to emergency management is one step; the next step is to familiarize administrators, faculty, and staff with it, which can be done in training sessions offered throughout the year. In the days following a campus crisis, it is vitally important to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the response and to determine whether modifications of the plan are necessary. Administrators have been charged with a daunting task. In the eyes of some parents, they are expected to predict the next campus tragedy and to do all in their power to protect students. Being human, they can only plan for the worst and hope for the best. Five yeaRS oveRdUe, tHe HigHeR edUCation aCt 2008 waS Signed into law on aUgUSt 14, 2008 The bill’s reach is extensive, creating dozens of grant programs, imposing hundreds of new reporting requirements, and clarifying conflict of interest issues in student loans programs, among other initiatives. As the bill was being negotiated, ACUHO-I was active in the process, representing member interests. How does the bill affect housing professionals? Here’s a quick breakdown. • Institutions will provide a variety of information about tuition, fees, and room and board costs for full-time undergraduates; enrollment; retention and graduation rates; and student services. This will be posted on the College Opportunity On-Line (COOL) Web site for public perusal. The Secretary of Education will publish annual lists of institutions with the highest and lowest costs and net prices by sector and the institutions with the largest percentage increases in cost and net price over the previous three years. The institutions with the largest increases would be required to explain the causes for the increase and what measures are being taken to control costs. • Institutions, “to the extent practicable,” will offer students subscriptions to music and video download services. Institutions are also required to use technology to prevent illegal file-sharing. • Institutions should develop policies “which encourage accurate and prompt reporting of all crimes to the campus police and the appropriate law enforcement agencies,” should mandate the yearly dissemination of emergency response and evacuation procedures to students and staff, and should require annual testing of the emergency response and evacuation procedures. • Institutions’ policies should also require immediate notification of the campus community if there is an immediate threat to the health or safety of students and staff unless issuing the notification would compromise efforts to manage the situation. For more information on the act or on how to get involved with issue advocacy, write corporate librarian Emily Glenn: Emily@acuho-i.org. September + October 2008 33

Talking Stick - September/October 2008

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