Web site: College Misericordia
Date: February 14, 2006

Misericordia presenting Ready Campus workshop in Illinois

While planning for their first statewide Homeland Security and Emergency Response Institute, officials from the Illinois Community College Board read about College Misericordia’s Ready Campus program in "The Chronicle of Higher Education."

The article, written by Dr. Michael MacDowell, president of College Misericordia, outlined how colleges and universities can respond to the needs of their communities during times of crisis, like natural disasters or catastrophic events.

"Illinois is especially interested in this initiative because it is a statewide effort to define the role of higher education in coordinating local and state resources for more efficient disaster relief," said Geoff Obrzut, CEO of the Illinois Community College Board.

Dr. Helen Speziale, special assistant to the president for sponsored research and national programs at College Misericordia, will present a Ready Campus workshop for the Illinois Community College System Homeland Security and Emergency Response Institute on Feb. 21.

The Ready Campus initiative was born in 2004 from the combined efforts of Pennsylvania Campus Compact, College Misericordia, Pennsylvania’s Office of Homeland Security, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania.

It is designed to help higher education institutions collaborate with communities and relief agencies to ensure the safety and public health of citizens. It ensures campuses are prepared to help communities during times of need and produces graduates who understand service to the community.

"Our colleges and universities can be a tremendous asset in times of natural or person-created disasters," Dr. MacDowell said. "With appropriate planning and some training, our colleges and universities can offer their communities much of what they must have in times of need. "Through an innovative best-practice manual and a well-prepared training seminar, college leaders can ready their campuses to serve others impacted by the unexpected."

In her presentation, Dr. Speziale, co-project director and curriculum specialist for Ready Campus, will outline how the program provides colleges and universities opportunities to examine how they might respond to communities in times of crisis. The initiative provides the tools for working with local emergency management to assess community needs and matches them with campus resources.

For example, College Misericordia was transformed into a field hospital during the Agnes flood in 1972 because Nesbitt Hospital in Kingston was evacuated. The college’s Alumnae Hall was the birthplace for 52 babies.

Since Ready Campus’ inception, more than 10 campuses in Pennsylvania have adopted some form of the program. College Misericordia and nine other institutions of higher education also began implementing the service-learning component of Ready Campus in its curriculum in the 2005-06 academic year. These courses incorporate disaster relief information into multiple disciplines.

The service-learning approach gives students hands-on experience in relating their coursework to helping others in times of crisis. This component is designed to have long-lasting effects, producing graduates who understand the concepts of crisis management as professionals and volunteers.

The program’s next goal is to expand its reach to 10 other states. Efforts are underway to identify funding mechanisms to continue the project. In the spring, College Misericordia will conduct exercises to measure if its own internal mechanisms for activating Ready Campus work.

For more information about Ready Campus, log on to www.readycampus.org.