Colleges and universities everywhere are revisiting their emergency preparedness plans and making sure they have the best technology and best practices in place to keep students and staff safe.

Most experts acknowledge that a good emergency communication plan includes:

• Effective and thorough policies and procedures
• Multiple, redundant methods of communicating with the campus community
• Regular crisis rehearsal drills

Here are a few things you can do right now.

• Read a Campus Safety Magazine feature on emergency preparedness.
• See what institutions such as the University of Colorado post to their websites regarding their emergency management plans.
• Read a Chronicle of Higher Education article about what universities are doing to improve emergency notification through use of cell phones
• Consider joining organizations such as ACUTA that publish campus emergency preparedness plans for their members.