BARC is back
In 2023, the University reestablished the Business, Academic & Research Continuity (BARC) program as part of UW’s Division of Campus Community Safety with dedicated leadership for tri-campus continuity planning.
Disruptions to critical business functions can range from minor to imperiling life safety, and every department at UW should build plans for continuing work in the event of a disruption.
2023 Key Accomplishments
- Completed a revision of the University policy requiring continuity plans (APS13.2) and submitted for approval.
- Collaborated on major UW-IT risk and continuity planning initiative.
- Reestablished Husky Ready access and support for users. Husky Ready is the online continuity planning tool for the University of Washington.
- Established a continuity and resiliency community of practice.
- Coordinated a refresh of the Critical Facilities Index, a tool used to help prioritize the order of post-earthquake building damage assessments.
Continuity Plans
A continuity plan is a way to rehearse and be ready for a disruptive event, one that keeps a unit from accomplishing its work in the usual ways. Any unit can make a plan, but some units must have a plan based on regulatory or funding requirements.
UW’s online continuity planning tool, Husky Ready, has 331 plans listed, with 306 of those plans listed as being in progress as of May 2024. The plans are in varying degrees of completion ranging from placeholders to almost ready for final review.
UW-IT Risk & Continuity Initiative
As an outcome of a 2021 Risk Management audit identifying cybersecurity as an enterprise concern, UW-IT utilized a consulting group to build continuity plans for selected departments that would have the most significant consequences to the University if impacted by an extended technology disruption.
The deliverables of this project included completed Business Impact Analyses with associated Business Continuity Plans, an analysis of critical business functions with impact statements to financials, strategy, operations, brand and compliance. A list of recommended actions was also created and subsequently shared with Preparedness Oversight Committee.
2024 Program Objectives
- Develop and socialize to stakeholders a continuity program framework and the new University policy requiring continuity plans (APS 13.2).
- Complete transition of UWIT continuity project deliverables to the Husky Ready platform.
- Develop and facilitate at least one exercise with a continuity focus.
- Update BARC website content.
Questions? Need help with your continuity plan?
Contact Jim Tritten, Continuity & Resiliency Program Manager, jtritten@uw.edu