The Global Security Operations Center monitors, prepares for, and responds to emergencies to help ensure the safety and security of students, faculty, and staff.
Chris Olsen, director of enterprise safety and security for Adtalem Global Education, has more than 25 years of corporate security leadership experience. He has developed and implemented security programs around the world.
On average, there are about 6,800 natural disasters every year worldwide. They leave a wake of destruction in their trail, including injury, death, and property damage.
The safety and security of our students, faculty, and staff are a top priority. Adtalem Global Education’s Global Security Operations Center provides all five of our institutions with monitoring and reporting for events with the potential to impact campuses and locations where remote students and colleagues live.
Some of the events we monitor include:
- Tornadoes
- Earthquakes
- Flooding
- Infrastructure damage (e.g., the bridge collapse in Baltimore)
- Terrorism incidents
- Crime
- Active shooter events
- Lockdowns
In case of a potential impact, we map out the locations of students, colleagues, and facilities near an incident and complete impact assessments. Depending on the incident, we may send mass notifications to update students and colleagues on an incident or to understand if they have been impacted.
Preparing for Hurricane Season
Each year, before the beginning of the season, we:
- Gather our Crisis Response Teams.
- Update our hurricane playbooks, which identify key steps that must be followed at each stage of a storm.
- Assess supplies on hand, review and update critical infrastructure, and order essential supplies.
- Conduct simulations and tabletop exercises to test and adjust our processes.
- Send communications to campus communities about preparations for the season, along with reminders to update contact information and register for emergency communication systems.
Monitoring Throughout Hurricane Season
During hurricane season, we leverage our partnership with AccuWeather to monitor the Atlantic and predict the potential for impacts in the Caribbean and US. When a tropical wave is identified as one with the potential to develop into a tropical storm, we begin monitoring more closely and follow the below steps:
- Meet daily (or more frequently if needed) with the campus Crisis Response Team and AccuWeather for the most up-to-date predictions.
- Send communications to students and colleagues with updates on the potential storm, predicted impacts, shelter information, and academic contingency plans.
- Ensure that preparations identified in our hurricane playbooks are underway and properly executed. We also ensure that additional resource needs of the campuses are met.
Additionally, for our island locations, we:
- Remain in close contact with government officials for public safety announcements.
- Partner with government and other agencies on hurricane preparation, response, and recovery.
Once a storm has passed and we know students and colleagues are safe, as well as that recovery efforts are under way, the campus Crisis Response Team meets to discuss ways we can improve our hurricane plan before the next storm.
For more information, email the Adtalem Global Communications Team: adtalemmedia@adtalem.com.
