University of Kentucky Writing Center Crisis Plan

December 11, 2014

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Introduction

This Crisis Communications Plan is a detailed guide for controlling internal and external communications during a crisis situation at the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center at the University of Kentucky. This plan provides the necessary steps involved in managing a crisis communications process. Adhering to this plan will enable the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center to respond to crisis situations in an efficient and effective manner. Following this plan will help to minimize potential impact from various crises.

Our team has defined a crisis as “a major occurrence with a potentially negative outcome affecting the organization, company, or industry, as well as its products, services, or good name. A crisis interrupts normal business transactions and can sometimes threaten the existence of the organization” (Fearn-Banks, 2011, p. 2). By applying this definition, we have outlined what we believe are potential crises and the specific protocols for handling them. However, should you decided there is a necessary part not outlined in this plan, we encourage the incident commander to use their best judgment in deciding how to handle further action. We have determined that not following the steps and procedures in this plan will be harmful to the organization negatively impact its way of business.

Confidentiality Agreement

I have received a copy of the crisis management plan that was created for the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center by: Olivia McCoy, Kaitlin Jordan, Ethan Hutchins, Charlotte Murrell & Maddie Lockridge.

Signature:

Date:

Rehearsal DatesOur team has determined that all members of the crisis management team and the staff of

the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center will need to participate in rehearsals of this crisis management plan. These rehearsals should occur at the beginning of every semester. For the year 2015, the rehearsal dates we have set are Sunday January 25 and Sunday August 23. These two dates are close to the start of each semester so the Writing Center should not be as busy as other times of the semester. Rehearsal dates should fall on Sundays since weekends provide more flexibility for all members to rehearse together. These rehearsals are mandatory and the incident commander will determine the time to hold rehearsals as well as all future rehearsal dates following 2015.

In rehearsing the crisis communications plan, all team members involved will work through the outlined crises. Team members should act as if the crisis has just occurred in order to properly follow and understand the procedures. By rehearsing as if the crisis was real, team members will be able to fully enact the plan and will know how to best handle a crisis if it were to happen.

Crisis Management TeamThe crisis management team plays the most vital role in responding to and containing

crisis situations on behalf of the Writing Center. It is important the that members of that team feel compelled to protect that Center and are committed to following each step of the plan to meet the goal of resuming business with the least amount of interruption.

Judith G. Prats (Director of the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center)Email: judithgprats@uky.edu Phone: 859-257-1368

Deborah Kirkman (Director of the Department of WRD/ Head of the Writing Center Task Force)Email: deborah.kirkman@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-3754

- Deborah Kirkman has the contact information for the rest of the Writing Center Task Force. She will know who to contact as well as how to contact them.

Crisis Risk AssessmentWhen creating a crisis management plan it is important to consider how likely a crisis is

to occur and how severe the potential negative impact could be for stakeholders. The five scenarios that were developed ranged from issues that have occurred to issues that could potentially have a negative impact on the center itself and the University of Kentucky as a whole.

1.  Cheating involving the UK Men’s Basketball teamThe UK Writing Center tutors are found to be writing papers for members of the UK Men’s Basketball team.  The tutors were writing papers in exchange for money from the players or, even worse, the athletic department.Stakeholders: UK Athletics, NCAA, College of Arts & Sciences, tutors involved, basketball players involved, Writing Center Task Force.Impacts: Loss of credibility and trust, the Writing Center could be shut down.Procedures: 1.) Alert the primary stakeholders2.) Have Judith Gatton Prats talk to the stakeholders and the media, reassuring them that the crisis is being dealt with internally and the Writing Center as a whole was not theproblem. It was an issue created from individuals making immoral decisions.3.) Probable termination of the tutor involved4.) Do not release the names of the people involved.

2.  Budget CutsThe University of Kentucky is experiencing deep budget cuts that are directly affecting the Writing Center. These budget cuts mean that tutors need to be let go and there will need to be some restructuring.Stakeholders: UK Writing Center tutors, Department of WRD, UK studentsImpacts: Layoffs, lower moral of tutors, able to help fewer students, may have to limit hours of operation.Procedures: 1.) Analyze the budget to find any non-essential costs

2.) Let the tutors know that there will need to be some layoffs and to prepare themselves.3.) Downsize tutors, rearrange the schedule, limit hours, do anything else to keep the Writing Center open andoperating, but not more than necessary.4.) Help those tutors that were let go find new jobs.3.  Sexual HarassmentA UK Writing Center tutor is found to be abusing their power and using tutoring time with clients to sexually harass them (making passes at them and inappropriately flirting). The student(s) being harassed file a complaint with the Dean of Students.Stakeholders: accused tutor, client (accuser), Dean of Students, Writing Center Task Force.Impacts: Loss of trust, possible legal action, decline in students coming for help.Procedures: 1.) Contact key stakeholders of the possible crisis2.) Thoroughly investigate the complaint3.) Involve authorities if necessary and decide if the complaint was legitimate.  If the tutor did harass the student, then they should be terminated.4.) Talk to the media and let them know about the charges5.) Have all tutors attend a sexual harassment seminar

4. Violent Threats From ClientsAfter a consultation with a Writing Center tutor a client receives a grade on their paper that they are not happy with. They feel that, because they came to the Writing Center for help they should have been guaranteed an A on this assignment. They come back to the Writing Center in a fit of rage and threaten the consultant who had met with them.Stakeholders: accused tutor, client (accuser), Dean of Students, Writing Center Task ForceImpacts: Possible injuries, tutor resignations, questioning of Writing Center usefulness and effectiveness, questioning of securityProcedures: 1.) Call the campus police to calm down the disgruntled student and medical services if there were injuries.2.) Cancel tutor sessions scheduled for the rest of the day3.) Talk to your tutors and make sure they know that they just need to do their best to help students that come in.  It is not their job to get students A’s.  Hopefully this will keep tutors from being scared into quitting.4.) Have a press conference to let students know that A’s are not guaranteed.  The Writing Center is meant as an aide to student success, not a center to turn in others’ work to   get A’s.5.) Hold trainings for the tutors on how to properly handle an altercation.

5. Fire in William T. Young LibraryA fire breaks out on the first floor of the William T. Young library. Evacuation from the entire building is necessary.Stakeholders: William T. Young Library, Writing Center tutors, Writing Center clients, fire departmentImpacts: Possible injury or death, destruction of building and equipmentProcedures:

1.) Follow the guidelines of William T. Young Library when the fire begins including evacuation by the determined   route.2.) Have a meeting place already appointed to go to when a crisis like this occurs and a backup location if the pre-determined place is where the crisis strikes.3.) Make sure all tutors are accounted for and their student clients.4.) Have those who need it seek medical attention5.) Once the fire has been extinguished and the injuries/deaths have been confirmed, call key stakeholders to let them know about the crisis.6.) Hold a press conference to let the media know the full extent of the damages.7.) Depending on how great the damage, start brainstorming new places to have the Writing Center meet until a new permanent home can be built.

Crisis Risk Assessment Graph

Incident Report An incident report is necessary in helping to determine the aspects of the crisis

management plan that work well and the parts that need to be updated or revised. Each time that a crisis occurs it is important for the head of the crisis management team to take account of the date and time (as accurately as possible), to determine if events like this tend to occur at a specific time of year or time of day. It is also important to take note of who writes the report. Each aspect of the crisis will need to be described in as much detail as possible, no information is too insignificant.

Fill out the entirety of this form following any incident or crisis.

Date: _____________

Time: ______________

Initial Report: ___________

Update: _______________

Describe the incident (i.e., cheating, sexual harassment, threats, serious injury, fire, etc.):- Indicate when the incident occurred and when crisis personnel first responded:

- Describe which crisis groups are responding to the incident:

- Indicate where the incident occurred:

- Estimate the number of individuals evacuated:

- Estimate the number of individuals injured as well as the seriousness of the injuries and where they are being treated:

- Describe what is being done to alleviate the emergency:

Proprietary InformationWhen a crisis occurs there will be information that is not appropriate for release to the

media. That information will remain concealed until more is known about the nature of the crisis, the appropriate response is determined and the extent of the impact the incident will have on the Center and its stakeholders.

Comments to avoid include:- Do not release names of those involved or the names of injured individuals.

o  It is important to protect the privacy of the individuals involved and their families.

- Do not speculate on why the incident occurred.o Although the cause may appear clear, it cannot be determined without an

extensive investigation.-  Do not exaggerate the situation.

o Avoid “worst case scenario” statements. Focus on the facts.-  Do not minimize the situation.

o  Never deem an emergency as a minor incident.-  Do not bring up past issues.

o   Avoid mentioning past incidents similar to the current one.-  Do not release estimates concerning the extent of possible property damage.

o   There is no way of determining this information without further investigation.-  Do not include “off the record” information.

o   There is no such thing as “off the record”.- Avoid the “no comment” response.

o   This often leads to speculation by reporters. Explain why you can’t discuss certain information or tell reporters that you do not know the proper answer to the question.

Crisis Management Team (CMT) Worksheet

The crisis management team will play the most central role in implementing the crisis management plan. It is important to know who will be responsible for addressing the public, contacting all those necessary for effective implementation and updating of the plan.

1.     The UK Writing Center gathers the basic facts of the event.2.     Judith Gatton Prats will most likely be chosen as the public relations representative and will inform other key stakeholders and the crisis communications team.3.     Judith will then decide if more information needs to be gathered and if a communicator should be placed on site.4.     Judith will be in communication with the Incident Commander (Police officer on site, fireman, etc.)5.     Judith will gather more information from the Incident Commander like the type of incident, when and where the incident occurred, injuries, and other important information dependent upon the type of crisis.6.     The UK Writing Center will decide whether it is necessary to terminate an employee if the crisis involves something like sexual harassment or cheating.7.     Judith will confer with the Crisis Communication Team and decide if the incident will bring media attention. 8.     Before a response is prepared, recognize any proprietary information.9.     If this crisis will be in the media, it is important to develop an appropriate response and let the media know to contact Judith with any inquires. The UK Writing Center has to be the one reaching out to the media, not the other way around. It needs to be in control of what is said and what information is shared.10.  The UK Writing Center will then need to take steps necessary to get back to business as usual found in the business resumption plan.

Initial Contact Worksheet Those who need to be contacted initially are those who will be directly involved in

determining and implementing the steps to a crisis response. They also would be most likely to be the spokesperson on behalf for the Writing Center, depending on the crisis that takes place.

Crisis 1: Cheating scandal involving the University of Kentucky Men’s basketball team.Judith G. Prats (Director of the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center)Email: judithgprats@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-1368Heather McAtee (Assistant AD for Academics and Eligibility-UK Atheltics Dept.)Email: heather.mcatee@uky.eduPhone: (859) 257-5475Mark Kornbluh (Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences)Email: kornbluh@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-8454

Deborah Kirkman (Director of the Department of WRD/ Head of the Writing Center Task Force)

Email: deborah.kirkman@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-3754Jay Blanton (Executive Director University of Kentukcy Public Relations & Marketing)Email: jay.blanton@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-6605Crisis 2: Severe budget cuts require the Writing Center to layoff multiple employees.Judith G. Prats (Director of the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center)Email: judithgprats@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-1368Deborah Kirkman (Director of the Department of WRD/ Head of the Writing Center Task Force)Email: deborah.kirkman@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-3754

Tutors:- A mass email can be sent to all tutors at once, none outrank any of the others.

Catherine Wheeler catherine.wheeler@uky.eduNathan Allison nathan.allison@uky.eduTravey Vail t.vail@uky.eduEmily Cottingham emily.cottingham@uky.eduMelissa Crawford melissa.crawford@uky.eduAshley Dunomes ashley.dunomes@uky.eduMary Elliott marykate.elliott@uky.eduEleanor Feltner eleanor.feltner@uky.eduHaley Gray haley.gray@uky.eduKaci Smith  kaci.smith@uky.eduKaitlyn Lee kaitlyn.elizabeth.lee@gmail.comWendell Maupin wendell.maupin@uky.eduOlivia McCoy olivia.mccoy1@uky.eduEmma McGregor emma.mcgregor@uky.eduHaley Stockham hstockham184@uky.eduVictoria Sullivan victoria.sullivan@uky.eduHasanki Warnakula hasanki.warnakula@uky.eduRachel Elliott rachel.elliott1@uky.eduMargaret Frymire margaret.frymire@uky.edu

3. Sexual harassment involving a UK Writing Center tutor.Victor Hazard (Dean of Students)Email: vahaz@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-3754Judith G. Prats (Director of the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center)Email: judithgprats@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-1368Deborah Kirkman (Director of the Department of WRD/ Head of the Writing Center Task Force)Email: deborah.kirkman@uky.edu

Phone: 859-257-3754

4. Threats of violence by a client in the Writing Center.Shawn LivingstonEmail: sdlivi00@email.uky.eduPhone: 859-218-1831Deborah Kirkman (Director of the Department of WRD/ Head of the Writing Center Task Force)Email: deborah.kirkman@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-3754Victor Hazard (Dean of Students)Email: vahaz@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-3754

5. Fire in William T. Young libraryJudith G. Prats (Director of the Robert E. Hemenway Writing Center)Email: judithgprats@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-1368Jay Blanton (Executive Director University of Kentucky Public Relations & Marketing)Email: jay.blanton@uky.eduPhone: 859-257-6605

Tutors:Catherine Wheeler catherine.wheeler@uky.eduNathan Allison nathan.allison@uky.eduTravey Vail t.vail@uky.eduEmily Cottingham emily.cottingham@uky.eduMelissa Crawford melissa.crawford@uky.eduAshley Dunomes ashley.dunomes@uky.eduMary Elliott marykate.elliott@uky.eduEleanor Feltner eleanor.feltner@uky.eduHaley Gray haley.gray@uky.eduKaci Smith  kaci.smith@uky.eduKaitlyn Lee kaitlyn.elizabeth.lee@gmail.comWendell Maupin wendell.maupin@uky.eduOlivia McCoy olivia.mccoy1@uky.eduEmma McGregor emma.mcgregor@uky.eduHaley Stockham hstockham184@uky.eduVictoria Sullivan victoria.sullivan@uky.eduHasanki Warnakula hasanki.warnakula@uky.eduRachel Elliott rachel.elliott1@uky.eduMargaret Frymire margaret.frymire@uky.edu

Secondary Contact WorksheetSecondary contacts include any members who will be affected by the crisis situation or

will assist in some way in the crisis management plan. Tutors are directly affected by all of the

crisis events, but are not vital in the decision making process, in terms of the implementation of the plan.

Tutors:Tutors working in the Writing Center should be contacted after most, if not all, of the information, pertaining the crisis, has been collected. Tutors should earlier with information that will directly affect them, budget cuts and they may need to find new employment.Catherine Wheeler catherine.wheeler@uky.eduNathan Allison nathan.allison@uky.eduTravey Vail t.vail@uky.eduEmily Cottingham emily.cottingham@uky.eduMelissa Crawford melissa.crawford@uky.eduAshley Dunomes ashley.dunomes@uky.eduMary Elliott marykate.elliott@uky.eduEleanor Feltner eleanor.feltner@uky.eduHaley Gray haley.gray@uky.eduKaci Smith  kaci.smith@uky.eduKaitlyn Lee kaitlyn.elizabeth.lee@gmail.comWendell Maupin wendell.maupin@uky.eduOlivia McCoy olivia.mccoy1@uky.eduEmma McGregor emma.mcgregor@uky.eduHaley Stockham hstockham184@uky.eduVictoria Sullivan victoria.sullivan@uky.eduHasanki Warnakula hasanki.warnakula@uky.eduRachel Elliott rachel.elliott1@uky.eduMargaret Frymire margaret.frymire@uky.edu

Stakeholder Contact WorksheetMedia plays an important role in disseminating information, though in most cases the

Writing Center would not want to share information with the public, only in the case of cheating involving the UK men’s basketball team would the school need to make a statement about the incident.

Media Contacts:WKYT (CBS Affiliate)Email: newstip@wkyt.comPhone: 859-299-0411-          Should be called only after investigations are complete (for issue involving cheating and the UK men’s basketball team & fire in William T. Young Library)                                                   

LEX 18 (NBC Affiliate)Email: news@lex18.comPhone: 859-259-1818

-          Should be called only after investigations are complete (for issue involving cheating and the UK men’s basketball team & fire in William T. Young Library)                                                  

Fox 56 (Fox Affiliate)Request form: http://www.foxlexington.com/sections/station/Phone: 859-269-5656-           Should be called only after investigations are complete (for issue involving cheating and the UK men’s basketball team & fire in William T. Young Library)                                                   

WTVQ (ABC Affiliate)Email: news36@wtvq.comPhone: (859) 299-3636-          Should be called only after investigations are complete (for issue involving cheating and the UK men’s basketball team & fire in William T. Young Library)                                                   

UK PolicePhone: 859-257-8573-          Should be contacted first in cases of emergency (violent client, fire in William T. Young Library)

UK Fire MarshalPhone: 859- 257-8590-          Should be contacted following exit from building in case of fire in William T. Young library

Lexington Fire DepartmentPhone: 911-          Should be contacted first in cases of emergency (fire in William T. Young library)- Should be contacted following exit from building in case of fire in William T. Young library

President Eli CapiloutoPhone: 859-257-1701Email: pres@email.uky.eduShould be contacted in regards to major campus scandals (cheating involving UK men’s basketball). Should be contacted following UK athletic department

Crisis Control CenterIn the event of a crisis, the crisis management team (CMT) will meet in the Robert E.

Hemenway Writing Center. The Writing Center is located in the basement of the William T.

Young Library in room B-108B. Once in the Writing Center, the team should be mostly centralized in the Media Scape Cubby. This area of the Writing Center has the most power outlets to plug in personal computers and cellular phones, making it the easiest place to centralize team members and organize crisis control operations.

If a crisis were to occur making the Writing Center unavailable, then the CMT should meet in the rotunda area of the basement of the William T. Young Library. If the entire library were impacted by the crisis, the CMT will need to proceed to the entrance of the Mining and Minerals Resources Building located at 504 Rose Street. This is the next closest building on campus to the William T. Young Library. The incident commander will then determine if the crisis control center should be established at this location or move to another place. It is important to establish the control center as soon as possible in order to centralize operations for managing the crisis.

Business Resumption PlanWhen trying to resume business after a crisis having a plan in place can make things go

much smoother. When there is no crisis management plan in place there will be more chaos involved, employees may not know how to handle themselves or their clients during the time when the business is reopened and your clients will feel better knowing that there is a plan to get things back on track. Having a crisis management plan in place and making sure that employees and other staff know how to use it is crucial to getting any business back on their feet quicker and smoother than not having a resumption plan at all.

- The Writing Center would resume business in William T. Young Library where it is currently housed.

- If the Writing Center or any  of its technology or other materials have been damaged and the Center has to relocate, the Writing Center would potentially relocate to another area of the William T. Young Library. This would occur so that students and other people needing to use the Writing Center can easily access the Writing Center while the old area that housed the Writing Center is being taken care of after the crisis.

- The Writing Center should state that the crisis is over after every part of the crisis has been managed and that all incidents were taken care of properly as well as the individuals that were a part of the incident.

-  A statement should be sent out to the university as well as posted in the Writing Center (if the location of the Writing Center hasn’t changed) saying that they are once again open for business and will be scheduling appointments with students.

- There should also be a person of the staff/faculty from the Writing Center who should be responsible for answering any questions about the Writing Center’s crisis after the incident has been taken care of so that students and other faculty/staff feel comfortable being in the Writing Center and know that any future crises will be taken care of effectively and efficiently.

What if something happened to the building in which the organization was housed?- If something were to happen to the building where the organization is currently housed

(William T. Young Library) such as fire, water damage, damage to the electronics or other

materials used in the process to help students, it would be feasible to move all the necessary or undamaged materials to another room in the library for easy access for students/faculty/staff.

- If the area for the Writing Center had to be moved I would also put up signs and send out emails to all of campus and its students saying that an incident has occurred (possibly without saying what happened if it was something personal or damaging to the Center’s reputation) and alerting students and faculty to where the Writing Center will be located until further notice.

Post Crisis Evaluation·         Evaluation is a crucial step in preparing an effective crisis communications plan. As assessment, it is helpful in determining what did and did not work.o   This evaluation will help determine if the crisis management plan that had been put in place is effective and efficiento   It will also help other officials in the organization determine if any changes need to be made to the crisis management plan for future crises in the department of the Writing Center·         It also helps plan for, prevent, and cope with future crises by pointing out what needs to be revised in the crisis communications plan.o   Issue a final statement regarding resolutions to prevent a reoccurrenceo   Compile a file of crisis response (newspaper clippings or radio/tv reports)o   Determine if/how the situation could have been dealt with differentlyo   Make personal changes/actions immediately to all statements made if they need revision·         An evaluation form should be developed and placed at the end of the crisis communications plan for later distribution to internal publics for input.o   Include information about how the crisis was handled, who handled the crisis from the team or outside the team, and the dates when the crisis management team took care of the crisis as well as what occurred on those dates·         An environment where suggestions are made freely will add to the effectiveness of the evaluation and the crisis communications plan.o   Make sure to review how the media and consumer relations were handled during the situation and even after the situationo   Talk about how the crisis management team performed during and after the crisis and see if any changes need to be made for future crises

AppendixBackground Information:

The Writing Center was established by Professor Robert E. Hemenway during the 1983-1984 academic year. They offered services in a small room in Barker Hall. It was located next to Buell Armory and above the dance studio. In 1985 or 1986, the Writing Center moved to a much larger room in the M.I.King Library.  When the Young Library opened in 1998, they Writing Center moved into a room there, in room B108C.  In 2004-2005, the Writing Center moved to the beautiful but hard-to-find space on the 5th floor. However, in fall 2013, the office was moved out of that "Quiet Study" area back to the current space near the Hub in room B108B. Judith G. Prats was a graduate student who helped launch the Writing Center back in 1983-84. In 1999, she became the Acting Director of the Writing Center while serving as a Full-Time Lecturer at UK. Judith served in that role until 2004. In May, 2011, when the Writing Center moved from the English department to the WRD department, Judith was named as the director.

Past Crises & Failures:In the past the Writing Center has dealt with some of the crises that are listed above. The

Writing Center must deal with budget cuts on an almost annual basis. Tutoring services are an area that is frequently cut when it comes time to reduce the budget. That creates a crisis more for the employees of the center than for the rest of the university. In the past, budget cuts have been handled very well; tutors are alerted to the issue with ample time to plan for another means of earning money.

In the past sexual harassment has been an issue that was not handled to the best of the centers abilities. It was observed by other tutors in the center, but because a complaint was never filed by those seeking the centers services, it was difficult to substantiate those claims. Since there was no concrete proof, an investigation was never launched and the tutor, who was reported by multiple co-workers, was never disciplined. They continued their employment at the center until they eventually graduated.

On occasion students are not satisfied with the tutoring services they receive. They are dissatisfied with the help they receive or with the fact that they are unable to schedule an appointment, usually because they attempt to do so at the last minute. On one occasion a client became enraged and threatened employees in the center. Tutors attempted to calm the person, and ultimately were able to get help from security. Though in this situation the result was positive, it was because of the quick thinking of the consultant, not because of proper training. The center consists of primarily female tutors, and had the male tutor not been present the lack of a physical threat or match might have led to a different outcome.

Previous Media Attention:http://kykernel.com/2011/11/30/uk%E2%80%99s-writing-center-could-be-more-helpful/In 2011 an article was written about the services offered at the Writing Center. It was a criticism of quality of work that was done by the peer tutors. There was an overall negative theme throughout. Many of the issue come from the fact that there is limited funding, and therefore appointments could not last more than 30 minutes. Since this article was written in 2011, many of these issues have been solved. Likely because the center is now funded and run through the WRD department instead of the English department.