Managing and Surviving Disruptions Webinar - Checklist


Claudine SchWeber
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: May-June 2011

Category: » Workshops » Orkand-faculty-research-webinars

Several suggestions and comments were presented during the Faculty Research Webinar presented on June 28, 2011. A summary is presented below, along with UMUC policy links and a draft checklist.

I. Suggestions for Communicating with Students if WebTycho Should Go Down

  • Have a way to contact students outside of WebTycho:
    • Copy student e-mail addresses to a separate file. Do this at the very beginning of the course.
    • Keep a hard copy of students' names and e-mail addresses for each class.
    • Send all students a welcome e-mail. This way, you will have a record of all student e-mail addresses saved in Outlook.
    • Keep all class e-mail on the UMUC e-mail server.
  • Approaches for communicating with students and colleagues and enabling them to contact you:
    • Use a personal e-mail account.
    • Set up a new e-mail (e.g., Gmail) just for this situation.
    • Use Skype to communicate.
    • Create a welcome message that includes UMUC and personal e-mail, as well as cell and business phone numbers.
    • Phone options:
      • Contact program coordinator for student phone numbers
      • Set up (conference) calls with individual or groups of students, others. (NOTE: need to have conference call facilities ready.)
  • Other strategies:
    • Keep course materials in a separate file (electronic or paper).
    • Keep plans in safe place and update regularly.

II. Administrative Issues

  • In cases of major extended disaster, anticipate that UMUC will broadcast to varied media, such as radio, TV, electronic Web alerts, the emergency weather line (301-985-7669) and cell phone text messages. (NOTE: to receive UMUC broadcast text messages, you can sign up at: https://alert.umuc.edu).
  • Review UMUC's Classroom Interruption Planning Guide for managing unplanned classroom closings.
  • Visit UMUC's Natural Disaster Response Information Web pages often for guidance on what to do in the event of a natural disaster. UMUC continues to work to accommodate students and faculty members affected by natural disasters. These pages include answers to frequently asked questions and provide directions on how to proceed if you are contacted by a student who has been affected by a natural disaster.

III. Checklist (Draft) - Add/Change Per Your Needs

  • Preparation/Anticipation
    • varied communication paths established (e.g., e-mail, phone, Skype)
    • communication tested
  • Disruption
    • implement plan(s)
    • alternatives implemented if original plan has problems
  • Recovery
    • communicate status
    • identify continuity plans (e.g., rest of the term actions, individual student plans)
    • re-assess plan and implementation; revise as needed 
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