The complete emergency operations plan is under development.
Emergency Evacuation Procedures
Emergency evacuation procedures and maps for individual buildings are posted in prominent locations throughout each campus building. In the event of the need to vacate the building quickly these items can be used as reference.
In the event of a campus-wide emergency evacuation, the local jurisdiction's Emergency Management Coordinator/Fire Chief or the designee will work cooperatively with university administration to determine the best means of transportation, relocation, and housing. If in the event that a crisis on campus requires the closing of residence halls for an extended duration, students who live within 300 miles of campus will be encouraged to return home (if conditions are such that they can do so safely). If a student's primary home residence is further than 300 miles from campus it is requested that they identify an alternate location within 300 miles for relocating. If there are no options within 300 miles, Residence Life will work with that student and Human Resources to obtain local housing. Student information is updated annually and is kept secure in the Residence Life Office.
Weather/Tornado Emergency
Installed throughout the main campus are Emergency Notification Radios. They may be used to send tornado warnings when the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County have been designated by the National Weather Service to be in a tornado warning area. In the event of a tornado warning, seek shelter as soon as possible in the pre-designated locations in buildings. These locations can be found by looking for the Tornado Shelter Location and the fire exit maps in all buildings on campus. Becoming familiar with these tools can promote safety. For satellite campuses, local authorities will issue weather related emergency warnings.
Emergency Notification to the Community
Eastern Mennonite University utilizes multiple formats to distribute emergency notifications to the main campus community. The three primary systems, EMU Alerts, Via Radio and ALERTUS send the message by four distinct methods:
- Audible alarm and text notification on emergency notification radios placed throughout the main campus.
- Splash screen notification on the EMU home page.
- E-mail message to EMU email accounts
- Text messaging notifications to individual cell phone accounts