CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS

A plan for
BRENAU UNIVERSITY
published
by the
Office of Public Relations

2 0 0 3 - 2 0 0 4
 Crisis Communications Management:
A Plan for Brenau University

Revised: August, 2003

DEFINITION OF A CRISIS

A crisis response situation is defined as a crucial incident or situation involving serious damage
to college facilities, property or equipment, or serious threat to the health, safety or welfare of
the students, faculty, staff or administration of Brenau.

When must the crisis communication plan be put into action? The following questions serve as
a guideline:

n Is there a good chance the situation will escalate in intensity if no one does anything?
n Will the news media or some regulatory agency focus attention on the university?
n Will the situation interfere with normal business operations?
n Could the situation make the university look bad or cause people to lose confidence?
n How is the situation going to affect our bottom line?

There are many crises not of a catastrophic nature. Minor crises happen more frequently
and can be addressed adequately if faculty and staff will refer media to the Public
Relations Office.

Guidelines from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) suggest there
are four guiding principles in dealing with any crisis on a college campus.

n The most important principle is that the concern must be for the students, faculty
and staff.
n There is a need to respond quickly.
n Effective communication allows the institution a chance to control what is said and get
out the message wanted.
n Crisis communication management must be planned for before a crisis occurs.

The Crisis Management Team is responsible for implementing the crisis communication plan,
organizing assignments, assisting in the identification of internal and external assistance that
may be available to the university, watching for trends or issues that may affect the campus, and
evaluating the crisis communication effort. Members are identified below with responsibilities
briefly outlined and alternates assigned.

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CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN

In case of an emergency of any kind, the first person notified is President John Burd. The chain
of notification within the campus should flow as charted below. If one of the parties in the
chain is either unavailable or is the subject or target of the crisis, and therefore an inappropriate
link, the responsibility for continuing the chain rests with the next person in line.

Crisis Contact

John Burd
President
W: 770/534-6110; H: 770/535-7673

Helen Ray Jim Barco

Vice President for Academic Affairs Vice President for Institutional Advancement
W: 770/ 534-6119; H: 770/ 536-9555 W: 770/ 534-6161; H: (678)450-1155

Lynnea Halberg Ann Mahefkey

Vice President for Student Development Director of Public Relations
W: 770/ 534-6130; H: 770/ 534-1979 W: 770/ 534-6167; H: 706/ 769-8664

Larry Andrews Candi Brancato

Vice President for Admin. Services Assistant Director of Public Relations
W: 770/ 534-6242; H: 770/ 536-7009 W: 770/ 534-6169; H: 770/ 503-0495

Frank Booth Debbie Thompson

Headmaster, Brenau Academy Director of Alumni Affairs
W: 770/ 534-6140; H: 770/ 532-7674 W: 770/ 534-6164; H: 770/ 538-4582

Scott Briell
Vice President, Enrollment Dick Childers
Management and Marketing Vice President for Finance
W: 770/ 538-4704; H: 770/ 287-7686 W: 770/ 534-6273; H: 770/ 534-1328
cell: 770/530-7787
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ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
n President
The president assesses the situation and decides whether to call a meeting of the management
team. The president also assists in formulating what messages to use. He is considered as a
possible spokesperson in place of the director of public relations in the event the crisis warrants
heightened attention a statement by the president can bring. If the teams' responsibilities expand
to include matters other than communication issues, the president will coordinate all other
campus-wide responses to the crisis.
Alternate: Vice President of Academic Affairs.

n Vice President for Institutional Advancement

The vice president for institutional advancement is responsible for calling for the implementation
of the crisis communication management plan and is responsible for the coordination of all
crisis communication. This person delegates to the director of alumni affairs the job of
identifying local alumni to whom communication should be directed and/or who can serve the
institution in various ways during a time of crisis.
Alternate: President.

n Director of Public Relations

The organization of media relations and responses is the responsibility of the director. This
position assists in creating the messages and college statements, and serves as the college
spokesperson. If the team decides the president or other staff person would be more effective as
spokesperson, the director will coordinate those efforts. This person must remain in the office,
near the phone and always be easy to locate. The other members of the team are then free to
gather information and communicate it to the public relations office.
Alternate: Vice President for Institutional Advancement or Assistant Director of PR.

n Vice President for Academic Affairs

This person will act as an adviser to the team, provide strategies for communicating with
faculty and staff and recruit additional staff assistance if necessary.
Alternate: Vice President for Administrative Services.

n Vice President for Student Development

The vice president for student development acts as an adviser for communicating with students
and staff members. She recommends messages and strategies for communicating with parents
of students. Further specific actions with regard to communication with parents in the event of
death are listed in item seven below.
Alternate: Vice President for Academic Affairs.

n Vice President for Administrative Services

The person in this position acts as the official liaison between legal counsel and the college.
The vice president brings recommendations from the college attorney or recommends names of
specific counsel to join the team. This team member is also responsible for organizing
telecommunication concerns such as 24-hour coverage of the switchboard and the addition of
phone lines if the need arises.
Alternate: Vice President for Business and Finance.
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n Vice President for Business and Finance
This person acts as adviser to the team, provides assistance in composing statements
concerning the implication of the crisis to the university's financial well being, provides
information to the spokesperson and assesses the means of financing any unbudgeted
expenditures. Alternate: President or Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

n Headmaster and Dean of the Academy

This person advises the team with the best way to communicate with students, faculty, staff and
parents of the Academy. If the crisis involves the death of an Academy student, the headmaster
assumes the responsibility of communicating with the parents of the student.
Alternate: President.

Depending on the nature of the crisis and if the management team needs input and influence
from either faculty or students, a member of the faculty and a student representative should be
asked to be a part of the team. Following are possible delegates:

n SGA President
This person represents the interests and concerns of the students and enlists the assistance of
students if volunteers are needed to carry out the crisis communication plan.

n Chair of the Faculty Welfare and Ethics Committee

This person advises the best means of communicating with faculty. Serves as a vehicle to
provide the team with the views and interests of faculty members.

13 POINTS FOR ACTION AND INFORMATION

1. If the emergency occurs during business hours, the switchboard should be notified by the
public relations office immediately, and all incoming calls related to the incident should be
forwarded to one number in the public relations office. Any office or department receiving calls
should have them routed to 770/ 534-6167.

2. The designated spokesperson will not be available to gather information. She or he will
remain at the Wheeler Alumni House to be fully accessible to inquiries. Other members of the
management team will gather details by asking questions and establishing facts.

3. The Wheeler Alumni House will serve as media headquarters in case of an emergency. The
entire office must be prepared to relinquish telephones if necessary. If it appears numerous
people will be coming to the campus, whether reporters, photographers or parents, this building
will serve as the center. In the event the Wheeler Alumni House is not able to be used, the
Jacobs Building will serve as a back-up media headquarters.

4. Executive Council should alert all executive personnel, board members, faculty, staff and
others associated with Brenau who might be called on to comment. They must be asked not to
speak to outsiders on behalf of Brenau and be told to refer all questions to the spokesperson.
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5. A log should be kept by the public relations office of all information released. All facts given
out should be logged to show when and how the information became known and when and to
whom it was released. Among other things, this will help avoid duplication.

6. Never release names of deceased or injured prematurely. The press is apt to inquire about this
information, but there may be legal implications involved. In a time of crisis, there is an
increased probability for tragic error. Proper identification is essential, and no calls should be
made until final identification has been made.

7. In case of death of a student on campus, the president, or headmaster if it involves Academy

students, should call the parents. In less serious matters, calls to parents should be made by the
vice president for student development. In case of tragedy, other schools have found that
relatives respond negatively to being informed by professional communicators. News
organizations prefer dealing with public relations people, but parents consider communication
from staff members indicative of the administration's lack of concern.

a. In case of death of a Women's College student, the president should call the family;
an executive council member should attend the funeral home visitation. The public
relations and alumni affairs offices will monitor the obituary column daily for
information concerning local deaths.

b. The vice president for student development will inform the following, consult on
what steps need to be taken, determine the need for additional support and refer to
appropriate individuals or agencies:
(1) Counselor and student health services
(2) International education if it involves an international student
(3) Student's parents, guardians to offer support and assistance
(4) Office on campus who have contact with the student such as registrar,
financial aid, etc...
(5) Student's professors and adviser

c. The vice president for student development also will coordinate other support:
(1) Initiate contact with friends of the deceased
(2) Coordinate arrangements when family comes to campus
(3) Coordinate campus memorial services
(4) Send appropriate expressions of sympathy

d. In case of death of an Evening and Weekend College student, the president should
call the family; appropriate expressions of sympathy should be sent.

8. Very little can be done to stop students and bystanders from talking, and quotes from them
may appear. Anyone who might be considered a Brenau insider should avoid speculation. No
Brenau faculty or staff member should offer an opinion about the cause of the crisis, the amount
of damage, the effect on operations or the effect on employees. These questions should only be
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answered through official channels.

9. We have no control over photographs or interviews made off campus, but we can control
those made on the property to some extent. If asked to do so by the public relations office,
members of the staff should be available to escort photographers through our property. We are
not obligated to allow them to roam at will.

10. Witnesses to the incident will be questioned by team members. These are the questions the
team members will be asking and the witnesses should be prepared to answer.

a. What was the nature of the crisis?

b. Who were the persons or issues involved?
c. How did you respond?
d. Are there any deaths or injuries?
e. What were the names, addresses, ages of those involved?
f. Is there any continuing peril?
g. When did the event occur?
h. What was the damage? (Everyone, including the public relations staff in official
releases, should avoid mentioning dollar figures as insurance companies tend to take
media reports of damage figures into consideration when calculating compensation.)
i. Will the event affect our continuing operation?
j. What is the name and title of the spokesperson to whom the facts can be attributed?

11. In the event it is necessary to set up a crisis call-in line for parents, students or other
interested parties to call to get information about the crisis, the institutional advancement staff
should be prepared to answer the phones on a round-the-clock basis.

12. A follow-up written crisis report will be filed by the management team with the team leader.
This should be done as quickly as possible after the crisis subsides. Appropriate changes in the
crisis communication management plan will be made as a result of the report.

13. Resources available in the public relations office include:

a. The names and phone numbers of appropriate community officials such as police,
fire and city manager.
b. A media list for notification purposes
c. A list of local motels to give to media representatives who may come to campus.

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The following list will provide helpful information and background for the implementa -
tion of the Crisis Management Plan.

GENERAL RULES

n CARDINAL RULE - Tell it all, and tell it fast. There is no better or more effective way to stop
rumors and calm nerves than to provide accurate information on a crisis as fully and quickly
as possible. The flow of information tends to signal that while things are not in perfect order, at
least there are persons in control. If they can report what is happening, they also must know
what is happening and, in short order, should know how to straighten things out.

n DESIGNATE ONE SPOKESPERSON - Nothing is worse than to have several spokespersons

explaining the same circumstances in different ways. It destroys credibility. It is crucial one
authoritative spokesperson be designated to handle communications. Richard Conklin, a
member of the Notre Dame public relations organization, said, "One idiot in charge is better
than two geniuses."

n OPEN DOOR POLICY - All available information, as long as it does not involve some
security or confidential issue, should be made public. Cover all bases and all of the important
subjects. If information on a particular area is not released in detail, questions will focus on that
area and make it seem far more crucial than it may be.

n REGULAR UPDATES - Provide regular updates if called for. Minute-by-minute accounting

builds trust and confidence. Lapses in the information flow will stimulate speculation and
heighten anxiety.

n SHARE INFORMATION - Realize the fewer people who know about what is going on the
more they fear the possible consequences.

n BE PREPARED - The Boy Scouts have said it best. Recognize because we live in an
increasingly technological world, the potential for crisis increases too. The more complex things
are, the more possibilities there are for disruptions. Crisis management must be planned for
before a crisis occurs.

If you have any questions or concerns about Brenau's Crisis Communications Plan, please call
Ann Mahefkey, director of public relations, at 770/ 534-6167.

The public relations staff wishes to thank the Council for the Advancement and Support
of Education (CASE), Ms. Sara Pilger and Dr. Lynnea Halberg for sharing important
information and research used to prepare portions of this document.