The initial Vandal Alert notification following the UI Steam Plant explosion in April was issued approximately 50 minutes after the incident, did not include adequate information, and reached 18 percent of users via text message, according to an emergency incident internal review report.
The internal review report, published May 19, was part of administrative review following an April 13 explosion on campus that injured four University of Idaho students. The Argonaut reported the students were members of the UI student organization Northwest Organization of Rocket Engineers and were among a group testing fuel when the explosion occurred.
Other review efforts included an addendum to the internal report from a group of faculty focused on student affairs and the addition of more risk management information in the Student Organization Handbook. The opt-in Vandal Alert system only sent text messages to users who provided their cellular number, which the university is trying to get more students to do, Matt Dorschel, executive director of the Office of Public Safety and Security said. Dorschel’s office, along with Informational Technology Systems, created a VandalWeb intercept that prompted users to enter their phone number if they did not have one on file for mobile Vandal Alert messages.
Within weeks, the number of users with mobile numbers jumped from 15 percent to 50 percent, meaning about 8,000 of the almost 16,000 users will now receive texts, he said. The VandalWeb intercept will occur once per semester and once during the summer session, Dorschel said.
As part of their continual efforts to increase the amount of VandalWeb users receiving mobile alerts, the university also sent a test alert Oct. 5 notifying students if they were signed up for text message notifications.
“We can’t just stop communicating about the services that we have,” Dorschel said. “People only remember about emergencies and safety stuff either in the immediate aftermath of an incident or when they’re concerned about their own health and safety. We know that we have to carry the message 12 months a year.”
The annual influx of new students and departure of students means the office must constantly remind students about safety, he said. When people feel safe due to good safety track records, Dorschel said safety often falls out of the forefront.
The report found the first Vandal Alert should have better specified the location of the explosion. The alert said “Explosion occurred on Moscow Campus. Responders on scene. Avoid Area. More information will follow.”
UI’s Emergency Response Framework (ERF) was updated in May and added a step that may help deal with the informative value and timeliness of alerts. Dorschel said the ERF was updated due to efforts underway before the explosion.
An incident assessment team will be assembled, which will determine the severity of the event and decide whether to issue a Vandal Alert, he said. The team will always include someone from the University Communications and Marketing, Dorschel said. Upon assessing the incident, team members will immediately decide whether to send an immediate alert out, Dorschel said.
“(The ERF) gives clearer guidelines of when a Vandal Alert will be issued, who can do it and who is in the approval process,” said Jodi Walker, director of Communications. “This may all vary depending on the immediacy of the need.”
Student organization reform
Registered student organizations will be assessed as low, medium or high risk and receive consultation from UI’s Office of Risk Management and Insurance, and affiliate organizations based on the nature and level of their risks, as per the internal review’s and student addendum’s recommendations.
Organizations participating in what the university deems high-risk behavior will now be required to receive training on risk management to be recognized by the university, according to the Student Affairs addendum, which included Director of the Department of Student Involvement (DSI), Shawn O’Neal.
“It’s not about banning anything,” O’Neal said. “The university is not going to stop supporting science and students.”
The university’s policies about student organization safety will not differ much from those pre-incident, O’Neal said. They are more like “refreshed procedures,” he said, rather than changed ones.
According to the Student Organization Handbook, which was updated to reflect the findings of the internal report and addendum, high risk activities include handling chemicals, hosting events with over 200 attendees, engaging in strenuous physical activity, having controversial speakers and traveling to remote and metropolitan areas, among other activities.
Organizations participating in these types of activities must meet with UI Risk Management and Insurance to develop a plan to manage risk, according to the student affairs addendum.
“What we’re actually asking the clubs to do is to take a risk-based approach to their planning,” Risk Manager Nancy Spink said.
High-risk organizations are recommended to have an advisor, who is a full-time benefit eligible UI employee. Advisors are not required to approve of risk management plans, but UI Risk Management and Insurance notifies them of the information discussed in meetings with groups, Spink said. To be affiliated, which means to be recognized by the university and receive funding, groups must have an advisor, Dean of Students Blaine Eckles said.
Basic risk mitigation concepts are discussed in meetings and focus on teaching a repeatable method to groups, Spink said. The group’s biggest risks, and ways to mitigate it, are also discussed.“We do have to rely on groups self-identifying,” she said. “It is the people who are conducting a program or an activity that really have to be engaged in risk management.”
High-risk groups who fail to meet the requirement of developing a risk management plan will not receive university recognition through DSI and may be ineligible to be affiliated with the Associated Students University of Idaho, which have the ability to award additional funding to groups.
“We encourage you to register with the university,” Eckles said. “We want to know that you’re getting together as a club because we want to promote that to other students … Ultimately, if you and your friends want to get together, we can’t inhibit that. Nor would we. You can do that.”
University recognized groups can engage in high-risk activity and not inform the university, as they rely upon self-reporting, Eckles said.
“If you want to get together and call yourself the ‘Mountain Climbing Club’ and go off and climb mountains and you don’t tell the institution about it then that’s entirely on you — if you’re looking for institutional support — then we’re assuming some risk … by saying this a group we know about and we support.”
Organizations recognized by UI are listed in university communications, are given a VandalSync portal account and are allowed free room reservations. Students do not have to be recognized by the university to meet and engage in activities that may be deemed high-risk.
Numbers from Spring 2017 indicate 168 organizations were registered with DSI, 22 of which said they engaged in activities that could physically harm participants. Ninety non-DSI-recognized organizations were also identified.
“I don’t want students to think it’s a parent telling a student yes or no, that’s not what it’s all about,” Eckles said. “It’s about our responsibility as a society to be responsible for those individuals that are a part of our organizations.”
Kyle Pfannenstiel can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @pfannyyy