Emergency Response and Notification

Policy 4.12 · Public summary of the Emergency Operations Plan · Adopted 2009 · Last revised 2025 · Responsible office: Department of Campus Safety · Next review 2027

In an emergency, dial 911 first, then notify Campus Safety at ext. 2911.

1. The Emergency Operations Plan

The College maintains an Emergency Operations Plan describing how it prepares for, responds to, and recovers from emergencies affecting the Corliss Pike campus and the Aviation and Heavy Equipment Annex. The plan is maintained by the Department of Campus Safety, approved by the President, coordinated with the Tolliver County Emergency Management Agency, and reviewed each year. It follows the National Incident Management System.

The full plan is not published. Portions of it are security records under Ohio Revised Code 149.433 and are not public records. The plan is provided to the responding law enforcement and fire agencies and to the county Emergency Management Agency. This page is the College’s public summary of the plan.

2. Response

The Department of Campus Safety is a non-sworn department. Its officers do not carry firearms, do not make arrests, and have no police authority. Police response is provided by the Tolliver Township Police Department and, at the Annex, by the Tolliver County Sheriff’s Office, under memoranda of understanding available for review in the Office of the President. Fire and emergency medical response is provided by the Tolliver Township Fire Department.

Until a responding agency arrives, the Director of Campus Safety or the senior officer on duty directs the College’s response. When a responding agency arrives, it assumes command, and the College supports it. Decisions affecting the operation of the College as a whole, including closure, are made by the President or the President’s designee, with the Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Provost, and the Dean of Students.

Hours. The department is staffed from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday, and during scheduled weekend instruction and events. The building is not staffed overnight. At any hour, emergencies are reported to 911. Barn Complex B is checked at 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. daily, including days on which the College is closed.

3. Emergency notification

On confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees on campus, the College will, without delay and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of a notification and initiate it, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency.

A notification may be authorized by the Director of Campus Safety, the President, or the Vice President for Finance and Administration, or a designee of any of them. Confirmation may come from Campus Safety, from a responding agency, or from the National Weather Service. A notification is sent to the whole College community or to the segment of it affected, such as the Annex alone.

DroverAlert is the notification system of record. It delivers text and email notification; enrollment is automatic for students and employees using the contact information on file, which may be updated in DroverNet. Community members and parents may subscribe through the Department of Campus Safety. A notice is also posted on the College website home page. At the Annex, DroverAlert is the only reliable means of notification; see Weather Closures. Follow-up information is issued through the same channels until the emergency has ended.

An emergency notification is distinct from a timely warning, which is issued under Policy 4.10, Timely Warnings, for Clery Act crimes that represent a serious or continuing threat.

Testing. DroverAlert is tested twice each academic year, in September and February. The tests of record for the 2025–26 academic year were conducted on September 18, 2025 and February 12, 2026, and both were completed within published parameters. Each test is documented with its date, time, and whether it was announced, and results are published in the Annual Security Report.

4. What to do

Shelter locations by wing and evacuation assembly points are posted at every exit. The following are the College’s standing instructions; an instruction given by Campus Safety or a responding agency at the time governs.

5. Persons who may need assistance

A person who may need assistance to evacuate or to reach a shelter location may arrange an individual emergency plan in advance: students through Disability Services, ext. 2144, and employees through Human Resources, ext. 2240. Elevators are not used during a fire alarm. A person who cannot use the stairs waits at the stair landing nearest them, and another person informs responding firefighters of their location. Known physical access limitations are published at Accessibility.

6. Drover Court as a county emergency shelter

Drover Court is a designated Tolliver County emergency shelter under agreement with the county Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross. The College maintains shelter supplies for 140 persons and participates in the county’s annual shelter exercise. Activation is made by the county. When Drover Court is activated as a shelter, it is unavailable for rental or other scheduled use, and athletic scheduling yields to the activation. The College operates no student housing; the shelter designation is a county arrangement for the use of a College facility. See Community Use of Facilities.

7. Drills, exercises, and review

Fire drills are conducted in all instructional buildings each semester. The plan is exercised at least once each year, in a tabletop or functional exercise that includes the responding agencies, and is reviewed after each exercise and after any activation. Closures for weather are governed by the procedure at Weather Closures.