BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

Each week, Bulletproof Blog features exclusive interviews with thought leaders on issues of critical importance to companies, countries, and organizations. This week, with students returning to class at a time when the potential for campus-wide panic is palpable, we interview former American University President Dr. Benjamin Ladner on effective communications during times of campus crisis. Dr. Ladner led the university through the most demanding of emergency preparedness circumstances, including 9/11, the SARS pandemic, and the D.C. sniper and Anthrax attacks.

When emergency situations arise on college campuses, how can administrators and staff ensure that crisis communications are as effective as possible?

Ben Ladner: Because of the large concentration of people on college campuses, no matter how much emergency planning and preparation have occurred, all real emergencies have a disturbing mix of surprise and actual or potential chaos. It can be a dormitory fire, a sniper randomly shooting victims, a tornado or flood, exposure to toxic chemicals in a lab, or alcohol-induced destruction by a mob "celebrating" an athletic victory.

Faced with such emergencies, college decision makers responsible for the safety of the college community instinctively, and rightly, want to get the situation under control. From this instinct flows a series of seemingly discreet decisions that can have unintended consequences. For example, who makes final decisions about the numerous aspects of an emergency, many of which are not apparent at the outset? Is it always and only the president? Should the first move be to centralize authority for action or to disperse it to on-site leaders? Who speaks to the press and how is reliable information obtained from conflicting accounts? What if cell phones and computers are down; what is the most effective means of communication?

Obviously, there are no simple answers to these questions that will cover all emergencies. One quality of college emergencies is that they are always site-specific. With this in mind, a few suggestions might be helpful.

First, know your college. This means knowing the people who can be counted on as reliable, calm, and clear-thinking leaders in the face of emergencies. These may not be persons with formal leadership titles.
Engage in extensive planning, which should be updated at least twice a year. Make use of emergency planning experts who can advise on steps to follow.

Train administrators, faculty, staff, and students. Have at least one or two simulation sessions annually. Outside advisors can conduct and evaluate these simulations.

And ensure that the president and his or her designated spokesperson will make immediate and regular statements during and after an emergency to keep internal and external communities (including the media) informed.

What are the greatest challenges to effective crisis communications on college campuses? How can they best be overcome?

Ben Ladner: The greatest challenges to effective communication include the disruption of the technical means of communication; the release of conflicting information; communication delays, which allow rumor and gossip to take hold and induce fear; the absence of someone assigned to deal directly with the press; the failure to utilize faculty experts on campus whose expertise might be relevant to the emergency; the absence of a recognized locus of authoritative and reliable statements; a reticent or bureaucratic president who chooses to continue to work through slow-moving administrative channels rather than boldly taking charge; and the absence of emergency planning.

All of these problems should be addressed in the extensive planning and training exercises mentioned above. Effective simulation exercises will bring to light the persistence of these and other problems and options for how to address them.

What' s next with regard to emergency situations on college campuses? Are there issues emerging on the horizon that administrators and staff need to be aware of?

Ben Ladner: Many major emergencies have a single, maddeningly elusive component; namely, that we could not in our wildest dreams have imagined that such things could happen. But, of course, they do. Katrina happened to the colleges in New Orleans; 9/11 happened to the colleges in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Weather-related events happen all across the country destroying college buildings and lives.

It is difficult to say specifically what' s next in terms of emergency situations. For sure, the emergency of spreading H1N1 flu should be taken extremely seriously. Read the accounts of the 1918 flu pandemic in which 40-50 million people died worldwide. It is revealing how slow many leaders and experts were to understand or respond adequately to the emergency, partly because they could not imagine it. Getting through this year without a given campus being affected by the disease is no guarantee that it will not return with greater and more widespread virulence next year, as it did on at least three "waves" in 1918.

Also, colleges that are not in large urban centers are not immune from the consequences of another terrorist attack that could occur in those centers. Preparing now to counsel frightened students, deal with students whose parents or loved ones may be directly involved in attacks elsewhere, implementing a plan for campus security should a different kind of attack spread beyond major cities, etc., could make the difference between an effective response to an emergency and indecisiveness, delay, and poor communication to a college constituency that is depending on timely information and thoughtful leadership.

I can say unequivocally that what' s on the horizon is, large or small, another emergency on some college campus. The only question is whether college leaders will invest the time, money, and effort to be truly prepared.

Larry Smith is Senior Vice President of Levick Strategic Communications, the nation' s top crisis communications firm, and a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog.