This crisis management procedure establishes a protocol deploying Ball State’s crisis management team and defines the roles and responsibilities of the members of that team. A crisis is defined as any unplanned event that significantly threatens the health and welfare of multiple members of the Ball State community; causes operational disruption; or causes physical or environmental damage and harm to the university’s public standing.

In any crisis or emergency, Ball State’s foremost concern is for the protection of human life, health, and welfare. Protection of property and the protection of the integrity and reputation of Ball State are also critical; however, they are always secondary to protection of life, health, and welfare.

Ball State’s crisis management team will coordinate the efforts of appropriate campus resources, such as Facilities Planning and Management, Public Safety, legal counsel, Housing and Residence Life, and Counseling and Health Services.

Ball State’s crisis management team is committed to effective partnership and collaboration with local, county, and state officials whenever a crisis situation involves such agencies.

Ball State’s crisis management team is committed to full and open communication in the event of a crisis. The university will provide timely and well-coordinated communication to the media and other constituents to the best of its ability in any crisis situation.

The crisis management team will coordinate a formal debriefing, analyze the outcome and the media coverage, and revise crisis management procedures as needed.

The crisis management team will suggest changes to internal policies to avoid/minimize a repeat of the crisis situation.

In an effort to ensure that the crisis management protocol is thorough and that the campus community has an understanding of those procedures, Ball State regularly tests our crisis protocols and emergency notification system. In addition, the crisis management team and university senior staff take part in training and tabletop exercises one to two times each year to test and enhance our established procedures.