For many of us, watching the recent television coverage of the devastating hurricanes along the Gulf Coast has once again shaken our perceptions of security and motivated us to review our personal emergency preparedness plans. From evacuation strategies to long-term access to financial resources, the plight of residents from the hurricane-stricken areas illustrated the potential weaknesses in many of our plans.
Likewise, for colleges and universities the events that followed these natural disasters demonstrated the important role that disaster preparation must take in the strategic plans of institutions. Although hurricanes may not be a likely threat for all colleges and universities, from tornadoes and earthquakes to industrial accidents and terrorism, institutions must plan for a variety of emergency scenarios that could impact students, staff, and faculty.
Among the most visible examples of challenges faced by the colleges and universities along the Gulf Coast are those of Xavier, Loyola, and Tulane Universities, for which Hurricane Katrina came at a time when students were just returning to campus. But other institutions, including universities, colleges, and community colleges in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida have also struggled to provide for the security of their students and employees, as well as maintain a continuity of services that will provide for the long-term financial stability of the institution.
Revenue from student tuition is the lifeblood of most any college, and for schools stricken by disasters the future often depends on maintaining student enrollments and tuition payments. Fortunately, with today’s technologies, no longer are colleges tied to campus facilities to offer learning opportunities to students who are displaced by emergencies or disasters. In meeting these demands, online courses and programs are commonly poised to provide essential services for institutions looking to maintain their continuity of services during and after disasters.
While effective emergency preparedness plans integrate a variety of pre-, during-, and postdisaster elements, there is an emerging role that distance education can play in the development of systemic disaster plans. Many distance education programs offer institutions valuable communications infrastructures that are accessible by students, faculty, and many staff members at most any location. Consequently, distance education resources can be utilized to provide stable and consistent learning platforms even when campus-based services are suspended. From a 3-day closer of a campus to the many months that are required to mend from a large-scale disaster, educational technologies are often flexible enough to assist institutions in responding to various emergency scenarios.
Since many distance education programs operate on Web-based delivery systems (such as, Blackboard, WebCT, or eCollege) that are typically not maintained on-campus, their access and operational requirements are less likely to be impacted by the ravages of a disaster. This can provide institutions with a stable environment in which to provide students, faculty, and staff with essential two-way communication channels throughout a disaster and the subsequent recovery efforts. Even following large-scale disasters, access to the Internet has now become a mainstay of relief efforts provided by government and charity organizations.
In addition, the flexibility of distance education resources to provide meaningful learning opportunities to students who are located (or re-located) to most any location offers colleges and universities the opportunity to provide continuing services to students. As a result, with some preparation colleges and universities could be better able to maintain student enrollments and provide superb learning opportunities to students in most any academic field.
The following are suggestions for integrating distance education with institutional emergency preparedness planning:
Offsite Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure that maintains the communications and e-learning applications of the institution should be housed in off-campus facilities that are not likely to be impacted by emergencies or disasters at primary campus locations. For example, George Washington University, which is located in downtown Washington DC, maintains it technology infrastructure in facilities located in suburban Virginia more than 25 miles from the main campus.
Mirrored Web Infrastructure
Online technology resources, including e-learning management systems, should utilize a mirrored infrastructure with multiple server locations. By having redundant servers in multiple geographic locations, the Web infrastructure that supports e-learning can offer a continuity of services even if regional emergencies interrupt services or decrease bandwidth availability.
Business Continuity Plan
The integration of e-learning in the business continuity plans for the institution can ensure that students will continue to receive necessary services both during and after an emergency. From providing timely information on the emergency status of the campus to offering students the opportunity to continue their studies even if they are displaced, e-learning can help ensure that the institution continues its business even when parts of the main campus facilities are closed. Consequently, it is important for e-learning to be a component of contingency plans at the institution, college, department, program, and course levels.
Access to All Users (Students, Faculty, and Staff)
All students, faculty, and staff should have access to the institution’s e-learning infrastructure during and after an emergency. The two-way communication channels that distance education infrastructures typically offer can provide necessary support and access to information, in addition to offering opportunities for the continuation of courses and other business services.
Faculty Readiness to Move to Online Delivery
Preparing faculty to move specific activities from their courses (or complete courses) to an online format is essential in preparing for an institution to utilize e-learning during or after an emergency. While many faculty are already using e-learning technologies to support their on-campus courses, they can typically build on these experiences to create short-term and long-term strategies for hosting their courses in an e-learning environment. For faculty who have few experiences in utilizing technology to support their teaching, emergency readiness may offer an ideal platform to help introduce them to the technology and how it can be utilized to ensure that the core business of the college or university can be maintained throughout most any situation.
Student Readiness for Online Coursework
We should not assume that students have both the study skills and technical knowledge to effectively learn when courses are moved to an e-learning format. As a result, institutions should prepare students with the skills required for successful participation in e-learning courses. From accessing course materials to effectively communicating with faculty through online technologies, preparing students to be e-learners can provide the foundation for successful disaster preparation.
Utilizing e-learning technologies should be an integrated element in the emergency and disaster planning for any educational institution. From utilizing technology to provide for the continuity of courses during (and after) a disaster to the dissemination of information to students, faculty, and staff, e-learning technologies can facilitate the recovery of an institution from otherwise debilitating circumstances.
Note: Any opinion, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Science Foundation.
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