Building a campus crisis team

Crisis events can produce waves of shock, fear, and disbelief throughout a community. The university campus is a community and no stranger to crisis events. Incidents such as natural disasters, bus accidents, fire, and death on campus have demonstrated this fact. Communities, including the university, are becoming more aware of the need to develop plans to respond to these crisis events. Communities that are prepared to respond to such events may moderate the impact that the crisis has on a community. This article discusses the issues confronted by a small liberal arts university's faculty and staff as they worked together to develop and sustain a crisis response team.