Managing in Crisis Mode ~ An Operations Success Story

Managing in Crisis Mode ~ An Operations Success Story

Sunday May 18, 2014 Quinnipiac Commencement Fast Facts Roughly 13-14,000 people come to the three different ceremonies on the Mount Carmel Campus Ceremony times are at 9:30am, 2pm and 6pm Roughly 70 commencements to date ~ Responsible for the Facilities Operations at Quinnipiac ~ Responsible for the Commencement Operations ~ Co-responsible for the University s Emergency Management Team First two commencements run smoothly

Typical Commencement Day Undergraduate Commencements have historically taken place on Sunday. Commencement Facilities team makes final preparations on Saturday (ie: check lists, details, signage on Saturday between 9am and 2:30pm. On Sunday, the Commencement Facilities team arrives at Quinnipiac around 5:15am with the ceremonies scheduled for 9am, 2:30pm, and 6pm. The first two ceremonies run like a well oiled machine. I remember sitting on the proscenium with the VP of Public Affairs for 15 minutes, thinking what a great day to have a commencement outside on the Quad, it was fantastic.

Let s get a little lay of the land

Commencement Day lay of the land

5:10pm Announcements to Crowd

Commencement Day lay of the land the photo ramp

Photo ramp conversation 5:20pm---Our Grad Assistant approached JoLynn in front of the proscenium and indicated that there was a parent at the photo ramp whose child s name was not in the program. Protocol - find the Registrar at the University and they will handle.

Parent & Registrar conversation 5:25pm-5:30pm---The parent from the photo ramp and the student are having a conversation with the Registrar about why the name isn t in the program

Line up and processional 5:30pm---Graduates are moved from line up locations outside to prepare for processional

Final check conversation 5:35pm---making final checks with staff (students in line, VIP S seated, musicians ready, faculty/staff seats numbered)--- We are going to send the students

Game Change 5:37pm---a female caller calls Public Safety stating there s a Bomb in the Library. 5:39 PM Dispatcher, PSO notifies: Chief of Public Safety & Hamden Police Department (HPD) Chief of Public Safety informs Facilities Event Coordinator

The notification 5:39pm---Facilities Event Coordinator needs Keith, tracks me down and whispers in my ear, someone called in a bomb threat to the library. 5:39pm---JoLynn sees Public Safety Sergeant walking intently down center walk instead of the students, whispers in her ear someone called in a bomb threat to the library.

That kind of ruins your day!

Step back and rely on your training Locate Chief of Public Safety Police on Campus Locate other Co-Emergency Management person Get the PIO Notify Senior Management of situation Evacuate and sweep the Library Notify crowd of a delay

What is the Library? 2 floors 73,415 square feet (with some mechanical space below grade) 8 possible entrances into the building Home base for Commencement Facilities team

Library Floor Plans

Check of Library 5:41pm---QU Deputy Chief establishes communication and control with HPD Identified a Hot Zone, setting up Inner and Outer Perimeters. The Arnold Bernhard Library and surrounding area was evacuated A search team was established A full search of the library was initiated Nothing unusual or suspicious was found 5:50pm---all clear Tell Senior Leadership we think we are okay to continue.

5:41-5:50pm Sweep of Library (really a 9-minute of a 73,000 sq foot building??)

Risks of being second guessed

Behind the scenes Registrar checking on this student not listed in the program In my experience with the Registrar, she is rarely wrong and even more rarely wrong about commencement stuff. Internally, we check and double check the graduate list. It is an important day for families and we don t take that lightly, so she and her staff are working on how they missed this one student.

Game Change Part II 5:53pm---Dispatch receives a 2 nd call from the same female individual stating there were several bombs on campus References 7 buildings in the Quad and that graduation had not been cancelled yet.

Behind the scenes 6:05pm---A meeting is convened with Chief Public Safety, Public Safety Administration & HPD Chief Emergency Management Team co-chair, additional operational people to establish a course of action by: Reviewing the known facts Reviewing the options of delaying, moving or cancelling the commencement

What next 6:15pm---Reconnect with the Senior Leadership. We cannot have the commencement near these buildings. 6:15pm---A Decision is made to move the Commencement to the TD Bank Sports Center (TDBSC) 6:24pm---An announcement is made to the families and graduates that the Ceremony is being moved to TDBSC

There is only one small flaw in this plan. I need to stop getting into situations where all my options are potentially bad. Jack Campbell, Dauntless

This is what it looks like for an indoor commencement ceremony

This is about what it looked like at 6:15pm on May 18, 2014.

So how do you move 4,000 people from Point A to Point B quickly AND set up a brand new location AND start a commencement in less than 90 minutes on a Sunday evening?

Glad you asked...

So how do you move traffic?

So what happens 6:22pm---Keith asks about TDBank and JoLynn says it s not set up, but can get it set up. 6:26pm---JoLynn reaches Jon Terry on his cell phone and asks him to do whatever is needed to get TDBank set up for the CAS Commencement. (Jon Terry had already gone home for the day but happens to live very near TDBank). 6:27pm---JoLynn calls all Facilities managers on the radio and asks them to meet her outside of the bookstore. 6:28pm ---JoLynn meets with Brian Hurlbut, Mike Misiti, Chris Vendola, and Phil Carolla outside of the library. She instructs them to do the following: Move all Mt. Carmel staff to York Hill using the Student Center vans 4 groundskeepers to remain on Mt. Carmel to move items with the lift gate truck Send Brittany to York Hill to manage the set up

So what happens 6:34pm---Move these items:diplomas / Flowers / Programs /Mace Mace stand / Honorary degrees/ Award winner prizes. 6:37pm---JoLynn contacts Eric Grgurich to inform him of the situation and requests that he get whomever he can into the arena to assist. 6:50pm---JoLynn receives first text message from someone not on campus who had heard about it through Twitter...it has hit social media!

So what happens 6:54pm---JoLynn is in the truck on the way to TDBank. JoLynn contacts Brittany to ask for staff to meet the truck at the back door to help unload. 7:00pm---JoLynn enters TDBank and finds the arena nearly completely set up. The stage was being skirted. The ramps were being attached. The bleachers were almost completely set up and skirted. The chairs were approximately 80% done. 7:30pm---Arena doors open and families begin entering TDBank 7:35pm---Keith Woodward makes announcement requesting the family of XXXX to report to first aid. 8:00pm---ceremony begins

Aftermath/Kicker to the story

New Haven Register (newspaper)

The next day