Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.

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EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

Fictitious Executive Summary: A male has shot up to 30 people and is still on the loose. Analysis of situation: This man is assumed to be a student and has gone in the direction of the dormitories. It is 3:30 pm on Thursday and I am with my vice president and Chaplin. I know the police have been informed and the population I am

concerned with is 30,000 students, 5000 employees, and the surrounding suburb of the metropolitan city. Unrelated parts of the situation: There are three points of interest that are dealt as facts surrounding the situation. However, I believe they are red-herrings. The first is that police relations are strained. In this scenario the police must respond. All events prior to the situation should be disregarded and are not of concern. The relationship with them will grow and strengthen due to necessity. If they do not act with

professionalism in this case, they will have major legal and ethical repercussions to deal with beyond the strain of our rapport. The second reality that is a misnomer in focus is the fact that local media has been critical because of a previous case and pending lawsuit. In this situation, the establishment of a statement of particulars and development of open communication through a public relations officer will institute trustworthiness and reliability from the University to the public about this specific matter.

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

The final unrelated detail is the actuality that the city mayor needs to be informed. Since s/he is on the board of directors, s/he will be informed with the other administrators and communications team. No priorities, special preferences or addition of facts will be given to him or her in the case of this scenario. Type of leadership needed: In this particular case, I am a situational leader. I am going to manage the circumstances that have occurred. (Hersey, p.9) As Goleman mentions I will authoritatively react. The establishment of rules of conduct will occur and there will be little debate about them in the beginning. However, as time progresses my role as a leader will change as well. I will not micromanage the state of

emergency by beginning a delegation process and relying upon professionals to do their job. My primary goals here are to: 1) identify the people to be informed and also who will inform me 2) communicate the facts and minimize the rumors 3) restore order and confidence. (Western Kentucky University) Eventually, I hope to settle this awful situation, learn from it, and grow from it as a leader and take the University to a new realm. I intend to leave a positive legacy, given this terrible state of affairs. (Collins, p. 25) Reframing the problem: The reaction of the victims and the public is going to fall into the whole gamut of Kbler-Ross stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The stages I would be concerned with are the first four. For

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

example, the dissuasion of responses that may perpetuate pessimistic opinions or cause other negative situations will be at the forefront of the action plan. The best way to do this is going to be through dissemination of information. Everyone will have questions that need to be addressed. It will be up to the Public Relations Officers or Crisis Communication Teams job to think from the living victims point of view in order to answer the following questions: Why did this person shoot me or the other people? What did I do to this person? Where did this guy go? Did someone catch him? Am I still in danger? Are any of my friends hurt? What should I do now? The victims will probably also be thinking they need to contact family or friends to tell them what they have witnessed and whether they have been hurt. The Crisis Communication Team needs to set up a viable system in order for them to do this, or for families to check. In addition to the previous questions, the following questions will need to be answered that would probably arise from the media, family and friends, or from the publics point of view: Why wasnt there better security? How come nobody knew this person would do this? How did this person get the guns? Where is the perpetrator now? Who was killed or hurt? Did the perpetrator have a plan? What are the police doing? What is the University doing? Where did the weapons come from? Did the school have security cameras to record the

incident? How can we be sure that the perpetrator is not going to come back to

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

kill more people? How can this be prevented in the future? What can we do to support the victims and victims families? Safety: Because the campus police seem to be the first people who were contacted, and given the circumstances I would suspect they would call for more authorities, possibly bringing in Special Forces, including bomb squad and SWAT. This would mean they would create a plan for the area. An SMS and email message would be sent that would instruct that all access to plans for the buildings, maps of the campus, access to video and surveillance of the campus, as well as compliance of staff and campus police was to be assured in order to help accommodate the emergency response units needs. The police would possibly set up an area for victims families and friends to locate witnesses, injured victims or a list of the dead. Following previous history from other cases the University would probably be considered a crime scene for about a week. (Wikipedia: Virginia Tech Massacre) The SMS and email message to staff, students and media would instruct that all parts of campus and satellite campuses are shut until further notice and would ask for people not to come in to the area if they were currently elsewhere. People would be asked to remain in their buildings until the police have restrained the assailant and assessed the crime scene.

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

Local busses or metro would be contacted in order to tell them about the situation so that they could re-route travel until the perpetrator has been captured. Steps taken as head of University - Communication: 1. My priority for contacting people would be: a. Webmaster and Technical support for first general alert b. Administrators c. Public Relations Manager (PRM) d. Teachers - Staff e. Lawyer f. Students g. Media Local and Global Community Immediately I would: 2. Relate the scenario to the vice president and Chaplin in order to aid in setting up a communications network to help in cancelling all classes immediately. 3. Contact 911, specifically, the police and ambulance to alert them of the situation and confirm they have been informed, while also soliciting advice. 4. Create a message to be sent, which states the school will be closed down until further notice. It will concisely give the facts that have been

presented to us so far. It will announce authorities have been notified that

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

will be helping to handle the situation and that further updates will be given as information is forthcoming. 5. Contact my communications department to send emails and SMS to staff, students and media and also to security and those involved in the area. 6. Look to the Crisis Communication Plan (Clawson Freeo) and respond using it. 7. Talk with the PRM to the Crisis Communication Team (CCT) 1 to publicize the proper information to people. Media: Within an hour Subsequent to the immediate action above, I would coordinate the Crisis Communication Team in order to consolidate and prepare information that will be disseminated to the media. Following the guidelines from Clawson Freeo,

primary and secondary PR people will be chosen who will respond to the media. The secondary PR officer is a backup in case the primary person is unavailable. Together, we will prepare statements and answers to possible hard questions from the media. The PR officers will practice the speech to be given and will establish an area for the press release to be held. Along with the statements that
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The CCT should also include the Vice President, the Senior manager from the division in charge of the area that was involved in the situation that has brought about the crisis, the safety and/or security officer, the organization Lawyer, and anyone else who might be able to shed some light on the situation such as eye witnesses (Clawson Freeo)

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

are told to the press, the same items will be posted in all forums used to broadcast information to our public demographic. For example our SMS system, the

University website, Twitter, Facebook, and a WIKI system will all be updated and will send out a similar message. A log or database will be created that holds information about the communication given to the media, along with questions posed from them and the public in order that these inquiries can be dealt with in a timely fashion. Official information will be given through the PR officer and all questions will be directed to the Crisis Communication Team at a hotline or website that is to be set up. Shortly after Assuming the police find the perpetrator so that this is no longer the primary concern, grievance areas, along with counseling will be provided and set up through the University. A staff meeting or set of meetings will be held to talk about the situation in order to fully address the situation at hand. Memorial services, prayer and homage events and areas will be made available by the University for people to show respect. The Aftermath - Legacy A Public Image Team will be created who look specifically for the online and offline views of the community, in order that the University is made aware of the representation it holds with the local and global population. A separate team for introspection into the incident itself will be created to aid in answering

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

lingering questions about the episode. This committee will also be in charge of helping to ensure an incident similar to this does not occur again. Their goal would be to develop relationships with other communities who were afflicted with the same types of situations. In conjunction with administration, PR, and lawyers, the aforementioned teams or their reports would be used by a review team in order to reflect upon the overarching plan to be developed and maintained. This ongoing plan should be updated, revised and possibly even safety and security tested against in the future. Cost-effective strategies would be considered against in regards to what happens to the buildings and vicinity affected. The consideration that people may feel traumatized or eerie about walking through certain areas would be measured. However this perception would not be considered paramount in respect to what happens to the region as the University would not try to cover up the happenings, but rather learn and grow from it. For example, while not trying to capitalize on the crisis, courses or specific areas of study might be instituted which revolve around the incident and would be procured with input from administrators, the community and families so as to be tactful and authentic. These would focus on the control, the ethics, the morality, and legal issues surrounding the event. They might work hand-in-hand towards a memorial service and a yearly vigil ceremony that would be initiated to take place in remembrance of the incident.

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

There would be scholarships and grants for the aforementioned programs of study. Also, the University would create a special funds allocation for the victims and victims families. These would be given depending upon a

committee decision developed for the distribution of such monies. Rather than the University trying to cover up or hide from the situation, it would persistently try to look upon it to gain more knowledge from it and ways to prevent it. Legal Issues: At all times, facts will be stated promptly. If new, opposing information comes up, official statements and admission to mistakes will be made. No

addition or omission of facts will be dealt to any specific party. I will listen to the lawyers, police and emergency units advice and proceed by letting professionals lead their respective area. I will instruct Public Relations that information from the University is advice only and that people are responsible for their own actions. I will not tell people to go to a designated safe area because it may turn into the most unsafe area if it is breached. I will let the police determine this area if they choose. Essentially, I will try to minimize the damage done. However, I will expect repercussions that I will deal with.

In summary, my job is to coordinate efforts, to communicate information quickly, effectively and truthfully. I need to consider all parties involved, but let professionals do their jobs. Ideally I will ask two or three people to report back to

Final Exam: Emergency Situation presented to Leaders Thomas Johnson | ict-design.org

EDL 706 Dr. Tarek Razik

me and have them work with other people as separate units. This way, not too many people would try to contact me with similar information or questions. I hope that a situation like this never occurs under my watch, but if it does, I feel more prepared.

Works Cited: Clawson Freeo, Sandra K. (n.d.). Crisis Communication Plan. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from Northern Illinois University. Website: http://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/crisis.html#2 Colins, J.C. (2001). Good to great. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Goleman, D. (2002). The new leaders; transforming the art of leadership into the science of results. London, England: Time Warner Paperbacks. Hersey, Dr. Paul. (1984). The Situational Leader. (Unknown Publisher) Center for Leadership Studies, 1st Edition Kbler-Ross model. (2009). In Wikipedia, Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model Virginia Tech massacre. (2009). In Wikipedia, Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre Western Kentucky University. (2007). Crisis Communication. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from Western Kentucky University. Website: http://www.wku.edu/ur/crisis.html