Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

When the Unthinkable Happens

  • 06/01/17

An important component of an institution’s safety plan must include what students, faculty, staff and visitors on campus should do in the event of an emergency. This plan is applicable to active shooter/attacker situations, but also other situations as well, including the release of chemical, biological or radiological material or severe weather; any situation that poses an immediate hazard or threat.

“Sheltering in place” is a common response plan to emergent hazards. This should not be interpreted as “stay exactly where you currently are,” but instead as a procedure to determine the safest place to position yourself as quickly as possible during a hazardous situation.

As with other campus safety plans and procedures, it’s important to develop (and practice) guidelines for responding to emergent threats. Communicating your plan to the campus community is vital. Making information available on your institution’s website is one of the best options for sharing guidance for these situations. Although your plans need to be tailored to the geography and existing architecture and infrastructure of your campus, it may be helpful to review what other colleges and universities have in place when reviewing, planning and revising your own.

Here are some examples:

California State University, Fullerton
Fullerton, CA
“Shelter in Place, or Run/Fight”

Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
“Shelter in Place”

University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH
“Emergency Guide”

Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT
“Shelter in Place”

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • Colorado School District Breaks Ground on Unified PK–12 Campus

    The Haxtun School District No. Re-2J in Haxtun, Colo., recently announced that ground has been broken on a renovation/addition project that will unite its two schools, Haxtun Elementary and Haxtun Jr/Sr High School, according to a news release.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.