Denise A. Connerty Assistant Vice President for International Affairs Temple University Case Study 1

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 March 11, 2011 You have a campus in Tokyo, Japan, with 2000 students enrolled including 69 study abroad students. Approximately 8 weeks into the 13-week semester, a massive 9.03 earthquake strikes 227 miles from Tokyo. The earthquake is followed by a horrific tsunami. The tsunami is followed by a nuclear reactor crisis. What do you do? 2

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 The Great East Japan Earthquake 9.03 magnitude, epicenter off coast of Sendai Tsunami waves that reached height 60+ feet causing massive destruction Several nuclear accidents, including Level 7 nuclear meltdowns at three Fukushima reactors Approximately 16,000 deaths, 3,000 missing No structural damage or loss of life in Tokyo 3

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Crisis Management Immediate Response/Response Team Communications – internal and external Bringing Students Home Outcome Lessons Learned 4

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Our Immediate Response Assess situation Account for all students, staff, and faculty (our biggest challenge) Check for structural soundness/damage Crisis management Develop a communications plan 5

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Assembling a Response Team An intercontinental response team: President’s Office (Philadelphia) Dean of TUJ (Tokyo) Provost and his senior staff (Philadelphia) Risk Management (Philadelphia) International Affairs (Philadelphia) Student Affairs (Philadelphia) Communications (Philadelphia and Tokyo) University Counsel (Philadelphia) 6

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Communication: Students and Parents 24/7 phone duty Talking points for staff dealing with stressed, frightened callers Frequent communications to students, their parents, and study abroad advisers Frequently update official statements and updates at university’s home page Created special address for questions: 7

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Communications: The Media Many inquiries daily from national and local media Constant requests to speak with students and their families, both here and in Japan Many requests arriving through inappropriate channels Setting up interviews with TUJ staff (but making sure they don’t feel overburdened, uncomfortable) How many students? How many students? How many students? All questions and requests referred to university communications 8

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 To Bring, or Not to Bring, Students Home March 13: U.S. State Department issued Travel Alert Very fluid; not a single event Media headlines increasingly sensational Nuclear anxiety (and widely varying perceptions) “Evacuation?” 9

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 To Bring, or Not to Bring, Students Home Information sources: U.S. State Department U.S. Embassy in Tokyo International SOS TUJ faculty and staff Japanese news sources (NHK, Japan Times) Other governments (some issued warnings advising their citizens to depart several days before U.S. did) 10

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 To Bring, or Not to Bring, Students Home Daily communiqués to students and parents, copying advisers. Message to students: We understood if they felt need to depart Japan, and we would do whatever we could to help them complete semester. Many students started returning home on their own. Wednesday night call ended with the decision to move students to Osaka. Denise went to bed at 12:30 a.m. Last thing she did: Check U.S. State Department website and International SOS…but no change. 11

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 March 17, 2 a.m. 12

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Decision to Bring Study Abroad Students Home Factors: U.S. State Department issued Travel Warning advising U.S. citizens to depart Tokyo Stress on staff in Japan Uncertainty and fluid nature of the crisis Helpful: There were only four more weeks of classes Orchestrating the flights (available for all students) 13

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Outcome Transportation arranged Plan created to assist study abroad students complete coursework remotely from home or on Temple’s main campus in Philadelphia Students offered free housing in Temple dorms All TUJ faculty developed options for students to complete coursework from home Main campus Japanese language faculty and our online learning staff worked with Tokyo Japanese language faculty The semester resumed in Japan on April 4th 14

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Lessons Learned, or the Importance of: Calm, knowledgeable leadership Identifying one individual to be the main point person at both ends of the crisis Excellent and skilled communications people – during the height of the crisis, we had calls from local and national media a day An overactive imagination -- it’s hard to anticipate every conceivable scenario, and then think through in advance how various challenges and solutions will play out, but to the degree that it’s possible….. Having some sense of the technologies available to have faculty teach virtually 15

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA2013 Lessons Learned, or the Importance of: Keeping the response team as small and manageable as possible Taking care of and protecting the front line response team If at all possible, having someone available on both sides of the pond, to provide information and answer questions during regular business hours Handing the situation off to other teams as needed as soon as it’s reasonable to do so, i.e., undergraduate studies, housing, student affairs, etc. If you’re bringing students home, having a plan and team ready to address a range of issues and challenges: Undergraduate studies, on-line learning, student affairs, student life, residential life, counseling services 16

RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE RISE URMIA 2013 Phoenix #URMIA