Having closely reviewed 16 standards applicable to emergency management in higher education, we observed some common themes. These were parsed into ten overall categories, each with a number of specific topics; 35 in all. We have taken to calling those categories the Ten Steps to Ready©. The groupings of Reflect/Respond/Review (all following the crucial step of deciding to have a plan in the first place) are a clear and sensible high-level summary of that which is essential to a well-crafted emergency operations plan.
Our copyrighted assessment of the standards landscape led to another important realization: no single standard currently covers all the topics that should be included in a plan. This is not a defect of the standard; each of them has its own target subject matter and audience. But the matrix underscores that a blended approach will be more comprehensive than reliance on a single standard—even the best of them.
The full text of the publicly available standards elements associated with each Topic can be viewed at the UCC Crosswalk.
We have articulated an “Ideal Condition” statement for each of the Ten Steps to Ready and their associated Topics. Click here to see them.
The images below show two views: Topical (the 35 Topics organized by the Ten Steps to Ready©) and Sequenced (organized by the “preponderance” of the standards; that is, those about which the standards have more to say are at the top). You can use your browser zoom feature to inspect each image more closely.
