True irony in this blog posting... I was out sick with the flu the latter part of this week while two of our higher ed friends battled infectious diseases.
Michigan State University closed a dining hall on Thursday after 20 students had "stomach distress" that the campus believes is tied to "food safety" and today was confirmed as norovirus. And Babson College closed the campus this past weekend after a norovirus outbreak. Screenshots of their website can be found by clicking here.
Elizabeth was able to make contact with Babson to send our support, and she heard back the following from Grant Gosselin, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions: "It's been quite an experience. I met as a team of about 25 key community members on Saturday morning at 9:30 - by 5:00 the campus was closed. Communications in place, dining services converted to take-out dining (in three hours' time), press conference scheduled, cleaning regiment in place, and on and on and on."
Either case would be a great case study for you to share at a cabinet meeting for a tabletop testing of your crisis communications plan. Take a look at Babson's website language--are there elements you can use as draft language in your planning process, or can you improve upon their strategy?
About two years ago pandemic flu was all of the rage in crisis planning. Don't forget about pandemic flu, but remember that the situations MSU and Babson faced this week are more likely to occur. Don't forget the mumps outbreaks in the Midwest two years ago, or the meningitis outbreaks that continually pop up. Ensure your crisis plan covers all possible heath scenarios.
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