Continuity of Operations Planning

Review and update your departmental COOP annually

Contact DPS for assistance

It is important for each department to have an up-to-date Continuity of Operations Plan so that essential operations can continue safely with minimal interruption. A continuity planning template has been designed by the University for departments to use as a guide or starting point when beginning to develop their own continuity of operations plans. Some issues to consider as you develop, review or further fine-tune your continuity plans include:

• What critical operations or university business must continue and can be done from a remote location (i.e. employee’s home, secondary office location)?
• Are there particular seasons where critical operations are more vulnerable?
• What ITS network services are absolutely required to perform the critical operations? Have you developed a “workaround” in the event that you lose power or IT support?
• If you need to relocate your operations, what are the minimum physical space and equipment requirements for each critical operation?
• Does your operation have a way to contact students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders if an event is canceled, a class is suspended, a department is closed, or a building is closed?
• Which employees must report to work, even if classes are canceled? Are employees cross-trained in multiple job functions in the event someone is not able to perform critical tasks due to illness?
• If the university is not closed but employees or students are away due to illness or to care for relatives, how does that affect classes? University operations?
• Have you coordinated your continuity plans with other university departments’ plans that you may depend on for emergency services… Facilities & Operations, DPS, ITS, EBS, etc.?
• Have you identified alternative vendors for essential supplies or services in the event that the usual vendors may be unable to provide them during a local/regional disruption?

Do you need help with your preparedness planning?

The Environment, Health & Safety work closely with other internal departments as well as the Genesee County Health Department, County Emergency Management & Homeland Security Office, U-M Environment, Health & Safety, University Health Service, and the U-M Dearborn  Environmental Health & Safety in reviewing and updating, where needed, our campus hazard preparedness planning efforts. EHS is available to meet and assist UM-Flint departments in developing continuity plans and conducting department-specific training and exercises. Contact DPS for assistance.