Contact: Maridith Geuder
Mississippi State's Maroon Alert system, employed during a Thursday severe weather system that moved through the state, functioned as planned, said MSU President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong.
"After months of emergency exercises and fine-tuning our procedures, we were pleased that the system worked," he said.
Bill Kibler, MSU vice president for Student Affairs, activated the university's Crisis Action Team as weather conditions became a concern, and Foglesong said under his leadership, "decisions were made in a timely manner and communication channels worked well."
"Our climatology laboratory, under the direction of MSU geosciences professor Mike Brown, kept us posted from early in the morning, and did an excellent job of providing current information as the event unfolded," Foglesong said.
Under the Maroon Alert system, emergency notifications are made via the university's Web site, broadcast e-mails, computer instant messaging, and cell phone text messages, as well as announcements from centrally located loudspeakers.
"Our campus radio station and university television station also helped us communicate to students and the surrounding area," Foglesong said.
"As always, we learn something from every emergency experience," he added, noting that a generator at the emergency operations center did not function properly.
"Dr. Kibler made the correct decision to move the emergency operations to our alternate location in the Longest Student Health Center, and the team continued to function at full capacity," Foglesong said.
Another concern identified during Thursday's weather event was the number of people leaving campus in their vehicles.
"We advised the campus community to 'shelter in place'--seek a safe location away from windows and doors--and we were very concerned that many failed to heed the advice," Foglesong said. "We'll be discussing ways to reinforce the importance of seeking shelter during dangerous weather conditions."
No injuries or damage were reported on the Starkville campus, although classes were suspended during the most critical part of the weather event.
The Division of Student Affairs maintains a leadership role in MSU crisis response, with Dean of Students Mike White serving as a primary coordinator. All MSU vice presidents and the president are assigned month-long on-call duties, with Kibler serving as vice president on call during January.
For more information about Maroon Alert, see http://www.emergency.msstate.edu/.