In the Aftermath of Virginia Tech:

President Mora's Message

4/17/07

To Members of the ACCC Community:
 
In light of the events at Virginia Tech this week, I wanted to share with you what ACCC is doing to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff.  This tragedy has very special resonance for me as a graduate of Virginia Tech and I’m sure for you as members of a college community.
 
Since I became president nearly two years ago, this topic has been a frequent agenda item at our Senior Staff meetings.  How the institution deals with an emergency is a top priority for me, our administration and our board of trustees.  We have spent many hours reviewing our plans for dealing with everything from snow closures to serious imminent threats and how we would communicate both internally and externally during those times.
                                                                                         

Yesterday morning I met with our administrators who are responsible for security and communication to again review our emergency and communication plans in light of the Virginia Tech incident.   I am confident we have in place an effective first response plan through our Security staff, who are supported by the local law enforcement agencies that serve the jurisdictions where our three campuses are located.  These agencies know our campuses, their layouts and blueprints and have conducted emergency drills on site.
 
The importance of immediate communication to students and employees was underscored by the Virginia Tech incidents and we are well positioned to employ a number of methods of prompt communication.
 
Each classroom at the three campuses is equipped with a telephone so Security can provide notification in the event an incident is in progress.  We also have the ability to post information to our Web site and send e-mails and text messages to faculty, staff and students. 
 
If you have not done so already, I urge you to visit the college Web site and sign up for the ACCC TxtAlerts feature.  In the event of an emergency, you could receive important, potentially life-saving information. 
 
As we go forward, we are investigating other forms of technology that would help us communicate quickly in an emergency.  And, we are working through the N.J. Council of County Colleges to develop joint approaches to the safety issues all community colleges face.
 
Finally, in the coming weeks and months, we will continue to refine and update our emergency plans to ensure we have a high degree of preparedness and responsiveness. These efforts will include implementing regularly scheduled structured simulations to test our imminent threat response plan. These exercises will be done at all three sites in collaboration with local public safety agencies.
 
Dr. Peter L. Mora
President

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