Hi Everyone,

My name is Kaitlyn Dyleski and I am member of the Education Team for the 2026 ACUI Annual Conference from March 8–12 in Pittsburgh, and it is our hope that educational submissions help create a meaningful and engaging educational experience for all of our attendees. Students and professional staff from all specialties, levels of…

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Just now getting to really look at this list and it’s great reminder of everything we should be thinking about with our staff (pro and students!) Thanks for compiling this!

Did you know?

September is recognized as National Campus Safety Awareness Month (NCSAM). In 2008, Congress unanimously designated this month to promote public dialogue around critical issues like violence prevention and campus safety at colleges and universities across the country.

It’s a great time to consider organizing something in your…

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Thanks for this information! Great share!

Now that it’s summer and you’re enjoying all that downtime (just kidding!), I thought I’d share some areas you can start thinking about to strengthen your emergency management plans for your Student Center.

These buildings are central hubs of student life, and our readiness can make a critical difference in how well we respond to unexpected…

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I believe that information sharing is a key part of our community of practice. Whenever appropriate, I will share relevant resources, events, and publications that support and strengthen our community.

For detailed information visit https://www.clerycenter.org/ncsam-2025

Each year the Clery Center provides a free professional development…

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Hey everyone,

Looking for some ideas on emergency action roles.

We are rounding out year 1 of reorganizing our union operations to specify an area that focuses on facility needs and ?an designated area for event suppor. Under facility, we currently have a student role manager, who among other things, is responsible for leading point in times of…

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At a previous institution we gamified emergency training and turned it into a scavenger hunt with trivia questions.? For instance, how many emergency exits are located in the building, or where are the 2 defibrators located in the building?? We split the students into groups and the first group with all the correct answers won a prize.? We…

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Went to a session in Denver and the biggest take away I had was to make sure the training was in the location that the emergencies could happen. Walk the spaces, show them the exits have them really interact with the event venue etc. I had been having our event security training in the Union and moved it to our Event Center where the big…

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Hey Rebecca!!? It’s been too long!!!!??

This topic is always so tough to have in training…one of those necessary evils!? What has worked for us this past year is having our police come and act out different scenarios for my staff to encounter and handle in a role play situation.? Then we all talk through it as a group.? The students are…

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Hey everyone!

Reaching out in hopes that someone might have some fresh ideas on how to effectively train on Emergency Action Plans (Evacuation, Shelter-in-Place, Lockdown, etc.). We have done trainings on these topics many times but are looking for something more engaging and memorable. Any advice or thoughts anyone might have would be…

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Hello all,

ACUI and ACUHO-I are partnering on this year’s?Virtual Emergency Management Conference taking place in December. The last session of each day is an “If It Can Happen To Us…” panel roundtable on a different topic each day.?

• Day 1: Commencement/Graduation
• Day 2: Weather
• Day 3: Student Death(s)

If your campus has a story to share…

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Thank you, Mike! This is very helpful as we continue to develop our emergency preparedness plan and training. I appreciate your insight on this!

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Anna Metzger
Asst. Director for Belonging, Assessment & Staff Development
University of Colorado
Boulder CO Read more

Anna – For an emergency that facilitates an evacuation we have a designated location where all staff that work in the Union building are told to report to (and a back-up if that space is unapproachable). All staff that are employed by the Union are all scheduled through a centralized system (currently When to Work), which allows us to account…

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Good morning! I’m wondering if folx have procedures they’d be willing to share for checking in with a large staff (full time professional and student staff) in the case of an emergency. For example, if an evacuation is needed, do you expect your staff to check in with their supervisor to let them know their location and if they evacuated…

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Thank you Deanna.

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Dave Timmann
Associate Director for Operations, Marshall Student Center
University of South Florida
Tampa FL
(813) 974-0042
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-18-2024 09:08
From: Deanna Cahoon-Draus
Subject: Tornado Protocol

Hi Dave,

My…

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Hi Dave,

My union’s response (attached) is pretty similar to Jeff’s. Typically we don’t have to do the initial firebox warnings anymore because the campus or community alarms will go off first (with the same wordage). But if they don’t go off, the Building Manager will announce it over the firebox. Like Jeff, I watch the weather throughout…

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Sorry I should have included that!

Generally speaking, safe areas are interior spaces on a low floor without windows. For us, it is our conference theater, a larger multipurpose room on the interior, our tavern, which is also a large interior space, and our lower level (basement).?

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Jeff Pelletier, MA, MBOE, LSSBB Read more

Thank you Jeff!! What constitutes a safe area?

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Dave Timmann
Associate Director for Operations, Marshall Student Center
University of South Florida
Tampa FL
(813) 974-0042
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-17-2024 11:09
From: Jeff Pelletier
Subject: … Read more

Hello Dave from Tornado country!
We use our facility’s fire control panel to make announcements, with a script, that directs guests and occupants to our shelter locations in the building. I’ll share that content below.

Part of my morning routine is checking the weather, not only to know what to wear, but also what the meteorologists are looking…

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Good morning ACUI, we don’t receive many tornado warnings, but we recently had a campus alert. Upon the event’s conclusion, we realized we don’t have a protocol for tornados, hurricanes yes, but not the swirling winds. I’d be interested in hearing from those with experience, what do you do in your buildings when an alarm sounds.…

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Sarah,

Similar to OSU and Wisconsin, we have a duress button that was just installed at our Welcome Desk this past fall. Our student manager office is right behind the desk, so they can hear what is happening at the desk as well. We also created an alert phrase. If someone feels unsafe with interactions with someone at the desk, they can radio…

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Hello!

We have some similar things to what Jeff mentioned:

• Silent duress alarm – though we have never used these
• Building Manager office is just behind the Info Desk, so if they hear something in the background that sounds concerning, they will pop up and assist (when they’re not out and about)

We did notice the same concerns though – so to…

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Hi everyone!?

Our Student Center is one of the largest public buildings in our part of the city so we get a variety of people in here. We constantly have a lot of “interesting” interactions at the Info Desk in particular. Are there any operational changes you have implemented to increase safety/comfortability level of staff at the Info Desk…

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Due to the delay in registration going live for this course, we have extended the registration deadline to January 29. The course will now start on February 5.?

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Scarlett Winters
Instructional Designer
ACUI Central Office
Bloomington IN Read more

Good afternoon,

I’ve attached the process we follow in most situations.?

If the institution announces a delayed opening, unless we have a definite need to open before the delayed opening, we also delay opening the University Center.??

During intercession and other times when students are absent, the University Center also closes if…

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Following!

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Matt McKinney
Assistant Director, Operations and Facilities
University of West Florida
Pensacola FL
(850) 474-2406
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-15-2024 20:41
From: Jennifer Grossman Leopard
Subject: Delayed building openings/Closings

Hi…

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Hi all,

Can anyone share their process/procedures on either delaying opening buildings or for closings due to inclement weather?

Thank you

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Jennifer Grossman Leopard
Director, Student Life
James Madison University
Harrisonburg VA
(814) 863-4624
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Hello All,

Please, help us spread the word about the Emergency Management & Preparation course. The deadline to register is Sunday. Registration was delayed showing up on the website, and we want people to know it is now available. If you now anyone at your institution who could benefit from this entry-level course on emergency management,…

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Good morning everyone, I am working on creating new emergency contact/planning/checklist documents for our student organizations can use when they travel. If you have any documents that your student organizations use when traveling that you would be willing to share as a reference, I would really appreciate it. I can be reached at my…

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Emergency Management Community,

I am currently volunteering for ACUI with the Denver 2024 Conference Program Team. One of the most impactful aspects of our annual conference is the opportunity for colleagues across ACUI to share learning and contribute to our professional practice by helping provide the educational content for the conference.

… Read more

HI Ashley-

We just had Dr. Philip Saragoza on campus for a day-and-a-half training on WAVR-21:

Home

The training was more focused on recognizing risk and potentially disruptive situations, but the company (Work Trauma Services) may have some resources on de-escalation training.

I would highly recommend the WAVR-21 training…

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Hello:

I hope that everyone is well. I am looking to see if anyone has participated in any De-Escalation Trainings, with a trauma informed approach? Looking to see if there are any speakers who could do an in person training.?

Thank you!

Ashley?

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Ashley Hall
Director of the Student Union
University… Read more

Your community of practice is in need of two leaders. Nominate someone today you think would make a great leader for this community.?

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Scarlett Winters
Instructional Designer
ACUI
Bloomington IN
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Hello everyone!

We just wrapped up our third professional development cohort for the ACUI Closing the Gap Career Advancement Program. This program provides meaningful career mentoring and sponsorship to?BIPOC students affairs professionals in pursuit of their next level assignment. This past December, seven amazing members gained valuable…

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Hello Emergency Management Colleagues,??

My name is Jeff Pelletier and I am part of the 2023 ACUI Annual Conference Program Team for Boston in February 2023. One of the committees I am on is focused on curating our educational content for the conference.??

I am reaching out to you to encourage you to consider submitting an educational session…

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Hello Emergency Management Community,
I wanted to share with this group that this community does not currently have a Community Leader. If you’re someone that benefits from the conversations and materials in this community, and would like to contribute to its continuation, please consider applying for the Community Leader role.
This role is a… Read more

Hi everyone,

Our University recently got a grant from the state to provide Narcan (naloxone) from our pharmacy free of charge. Only requirement is watching a 6-minute training video. That got me thinking about if any Unions have this as part of their first aid repertoire, staff training, emergency training, etc.?

Curious to hear if anyone… Read more

Good morning ACUI family!?

Reaching out on behalf of the 2022 CPT about the upcoming conference. Wanted to remind folks about upcoming deadlines: to lock into the hotel block, February 15th; regular conference registration is February 16th.?

Make new connections, hear from Black Lives Matter co-founder and abolitionist Patrisse Cullors, and… Read more