Category: Updates

Although the National Weather Service predicts the Seattle area will experience a warmer winter this year, it’s still smart to be prepared for cold weather. Typically, UW campuses see snow and ice in December and January and a bit into February. Here are a few things to know in advance.

It’s snowing! How can I find out if classes or in-person work are affected?

You see some flakes outside. Are your classes canceled? Do you have to go to work in person?

If UW, UW Bothell or UW Tacoma decide to change operations due to the weather, we’ll share the news via email with a UW Advisory message to students and employees from the affected campus. For those who’ve signed up, we’ll also send you a UW Alert text message (pro tip: sign up now). Info will be posted on the website (check the website for your campus) and social media. Employees who work in Seattle can also call the UW Information Lines at 206-UWS-INFO (206-897-4636) or toll-free 1-866-897-4636. If there’s no message, your campus is operating on a regular schedule.

A change in operations could include canceling classes, closing offices or switching to virtual operations (which means no in-person classes or services; remote learning and work if possible). For students, check with your instructors about whether you’ll have class online.

During suspended or virtual operations, employees who aren’t essential staff (ask your supervisor if you’re unsure), are encouraged to work remotely. Those who can’t should follow the UW Suspended Operations Policy.

How does UW make the decision to start late, dismiss early or suspend operations?

UW has a Weather Status Assessment group, which includes representatives from operational and academic units across the three campuses. UW Emergency Management feeds weather updates to that group and convenes the group if it looks like the weather might impact mobility and operations.

UW in Seattle, UW Bothell and UW Tacoma consider current weather conditions and reliable forecasts, whether public transit is operating, current and predicted road conditions, K-12 school operations and whether UW’s Facilities crews have the tools and people to keep pathways and roadways on campuses safe. A team from each campus makes recommendations for hybrid, virtual or suspended operations to the President and Chancellors.

In the event of snow, ice, high winds or other dangerous conditions, a decision will usually be made no later than 5 a.m. about any change in operations.

• UW in Seattle – Winter Storms
• UW Tacoma – Suspended Operations
• UW Bothell – Inclement Weather

Getting to campus

If it’s snowy out, be prepared for changes to your commute. If you ride the bus, check King County Metro, Community Transit or Pierce Transit for updates and snow routes.

Link light rail and Sounder trains typically operate regular service during cold and icy weather, but some emergencies, such as mudslides, can cancel service.

If you’re driving, especially if you’re planning a longer trip over a mountain pass, the Washington State Department of Transportation has winter driving tips and suggestions about what to carry in your car.

What if I can’t make it to campus?

Conditions may be different at your home than they are on campus. If it’s not safe for you to get to campus, students should contact instructors as soon as possible.

Employees should contact their supervisor if they’re unable to come to work. Learn more about inclement weather, including leave use and compensation, at the UW Human Resources website.

If heavy and extended snow is in the forecast, units should check their department’s business interruption and continuity plan and talk with supervisors. UW’s Center for Teaching & Learning also has excellent recommendations for teaching during campus disruptions.

More info

Check out the UW Emergency Management winter storm guide for UW and local info. UW Environmental Health & Safety also has great tips (layers matter).

Stay safe out there, Huskies!

Life in the Pacific Northwest comes with two certainties: you’re going to need a good raincoat, and it’s only a matter of time before the next earthquake. Maybe even a double earthquake.

Earthquakes, like the 4.3 magnitude earthquake we had on Sunday, occur nearly every day in Washington, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Most are too small to be felt. Large earthquakes are less common, but can cause significant damage. Many at UW remember experiencing the 6.8 magnitude 2001 Nisqually earthquake that caused at least $1 billion in property damage around the region.

We want you to know what to do when the ground starts shaking (drop, cover and hold on) and practice. At 10:19 a.m. on Oct. 19, UW Emergency Management will participate in the Washington Great ShakeOut earthquake drill. We hope you’ll join us. Watch for a UW Alert test message, and, if you can, practice how you’d respond.

Check out the Great ShakeOut earthquake video series for info about what to do if an earthquake happens while you’re in bed, when you’re driving, while you’re in a stadium or you have a sturdy table to crawl under. The Seattle Times also has a helpful earthquake guide.

The preparedness motto is: Build a Kit. Make a Plan. Stay Informed. Make sure you know what you would do if there was an earthquake, and what your family, friends, loved ones and housemates would do if there was an emergency.

We also encourage you to download the MyShake earthquake early warning app. The app uses the ShakeAlert automated system run by the U.S. Geological Survey in partnership with the UW and universities in Oregon and California. That system uses ground motion sensors to detect earthquakes and send a notification.

If you’re new to the area or need something to keep you awake at night, listen to UW seismologists Harold Tobin and Audrey Dunham discuss the impending threat of “The Big One” – a large-scale earthquake that will strike along the Cascadia Subduction Zone – on UW’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences podcast, FieldSound.

Professor Tobin is the Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and the designated Washington state seismologist, studying tectonic plate boundaries, how faults work and the conditions that lead to earthquakes.

UW researchers are conducting crucial research into earthquake hazards, including as the lead partner on a new multi-institution earthquake research center based at the University of Oregon. The National Science Foundation announced Sept. 8 that the center will receive $15 million over five years to study the Cascadia subduction zone and bolster earthquake preparedness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Seismologists estimate that there’s about a one-in-three chance of an approximately magnitude-9 earthquake occurring on the Pacific Northwest coast in the next 50 years. Better understanding earthquakes and preparing for them now is as important as remembering to pack your rain gear.

All UW staff, faculty and students are encouraged to share concerns related to sex- and gender-based violence, harassment and discrimination through the new online Title IX reporting form. Starting this quarter, reports or consultations that previously would have been directed to SafeCampus will instead be directed to the Office of the Title IX Coordinator.

Individuals who are seeking support and options for themselves or others, or who want to make the University aware of a Title IX-related concern, should use the form. Title IX case managers can offer support, explain formal and informal options, and help identify the best way to address the concern. When submitting a report, most employees can choose to remain anonymous and/or not share others’ names to protect an individual’s identity.

Learn more on the Title IX website.

As more than 100,000 University of Washington students and employees prepare for the start of the academic year in Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell, we know our greatest strength is the self-confidence and community bonds people build over the course of the year.

Huskies watch out for each other. We do that by asking for help when we’re worried about a roommate or a colleague. We make sure our friends get home safely at the end of the night. And we know when to call 911 for a medical, fire or law enforcement assistance.

Whether you’re new to the UW and still finding your community or have proudly worn the purple and gold for years, the Division of Campus Community Safety and safety offices on each of our campuses have resources to help you:

• UW in Seattle safety resources
• UW Bothell safety resources
• UW Tacoma safety resources

Please help us build safer communities by sharing these resources. You can take a few key steps now so you’re better prepared for the year ahead:

1. Sign up for UW Alert text messages

UW Alerts are issued in the event of an incident requiring your awareness and an action — to remain in place, leave an area of campus or avoid an area. You probably already receive UW Alerts via email, but please check your account if you’re not sure you’re receiving alerts via text message.

Only 8% of UW students and 17% of UW employees have added their cell phone number to UW Alert to get a text message during an emergency. Let’s drive that number up. Get the UW Alerts sent directly to your phone by signing up now.

2. Add contact information for SafeCampus to your phone: 206-685-7233

In urgent or dangerous situations, you know to call 911. But what if someone shares they’re struggling with their own safety or you notice behaviors that are making you or others feel uncomfortable? SafeCampus is here to offer support and guidance. You can contact SafeCampus — no matter where you work or study — to discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. Anonymous calls are welcome.

3. Know your space

Check the exits and the evacuation routes from your classrooms, labs, offices, residence hall rooms and study spaces. Doing this now means you’ll be ready to respond quickly if there’s an emergency.

For more safety tips, follow Campus Community Safety on Instagram or Facebook. We’ll have more information in our next blog post about how to prepare for emergencies.

UW’s Division of Campus Community Safety, which includes SafeCampus, the University of Washington Police Department and UW Emergency Management, is excited to welcome Kelley Biastock as the new Director of UW Emergency Management.

Kelley is responsible for working with the greater University communities to plan and prepare for crises, disasters and major emergency incidents, particularly those that affect the Seattle campus, while supporting emergency preparedness and response work at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma, as well as other university locations. She joins Barry Morgan, UW’s Plans, Training & Exercises Manager, who has been filling the director role on an interim basis. Huge thanks to Barry for his hard work over the past nine months.

Together with internal and external partners, UW Emergency Management offers planning and training support to schools and units; identifies threats and hazards; develops mitigation and solutions to threats and hazards; supports effective response efforts and promotes prevention actions — all with the goal of shortening the impact and length of time involved in recovery efforts.

Kelley has more than 15 years of emergency management experience and comes to UW from Anchorage, Alaska. Most recently, she supported the CDC Foundation on the Therapeutics Task Force, working with the State of Alaska Department of Health in ensuring equitable distribution of COVID-19 therapeutics across the vast geography. Prior to that, she served as the Emergency Preparedness Manager for the Municipality of Anchorage Department of Health. In this role, Kelley managed the public health and emergency preparedness program as well as helped lead the city’s response to the COVID-19 emergency.

Most notably, Kelley worked for the American Red Cross of Alaska. She managed the statewide disaster program as the Regional Disaster Officer. Her many years of contribution in the public and non-profit sectors along with the emergency management expertise and ability to partner well with multiple agencies will serve UW well.

In her spare time, Kelley loves to travel, read and be in the great outdoors hiking, gardening and taking strolls with her husband and their dog, Potter. She is the proud mama to a creative and loving 16-year-old, and a strong willed and compassionate 3-year-old. Kelley and her family look forward to continuing to have new adventures in the Pacific Northwest.

With commencement season comes the end of the first academic year of the UW’s Division of Campus Community Safety. This means it’s time to reflect on what we learned this past year and where the lessons point us for the summer and coming year.

As a reminder, the Division of Campus Community Safety was established in fall of 2022 to better address the UW’s complex safety challenges across geographies and demographics, day and night, through three key units – SafeCampus, UW Emergency Management and UW Police (Seattle campus).

We work closely with other divisions like Environmental Health & Safety, Facilities and Student Life, and allies like the U District Partnership and REACH. The work is in service of reimagining what safety can mean for all of the UW community and is guided by the goals of accountability, transparency, innovation and equity.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t lead by recalling we started this school year in a way no one envisioned – with four students being hit by gunfire near the UW Seattle campus. This tragedy focused our work immediately on communicating with students, parents and campus colleagues, and working with neighborhood and government partners to change the conditions that led to the violence. That work continues.

From October onward the year has provided opportunities for learning around every corner – identifying gaps in existing services and protocols, but, also, developing impactful collaborations and making new discoveries. Skilled and compassionate people have stepped up at every opportunity.

The dominant messages from UW students, faculty and staff this year have been threefold – that personal safety is a greater concern than it has been in the past; that mental health challenges post-COVID isolation are very present; and that training in emergency response, particularly de-escalation, is desired across all UW populations.

The current urban environment has a lot to do with the first and second messages. The UW Seattle campus and U District are experiencing issues common to most west coast cities – threats, theft, assaults and property damage are up. Gun violence, homelessness, addiction — especially to fentanyl and meth — and untreated mental illness pose ongoing challenges to individuals and families community-wide.

In Campus Community Safety, we’re working to reset and in some cases create foundational policies, information, templates and trainings, while providing day-to-day responses to behaviors of concern, threats and, unfortunately, crimes. We do that thanks to the incredible work of staff in SafeCampus, UW Emergency Management and UWPD, plus partners in safety at UW Tacoma, UW Bothell and in UW Medicine.

Here are a few learning points from the past 10 months.

Building intruders and visitors in crisis

Unfortunately, the Seattle campus has seen a sharp increase in calls regarding people smoking fentanyl in places like the Central Plaza Garage stairwells; people breaking into labs in buildings like Hitchcock and Chemistry; and actively unwell visitors entering classrooms and offices in buildings like Electrical Engineering, PACCAR, Communications and Guggenheim.

UWPD officers respond to these calls and activate responders, as available, from REACH, the group doing outreach and service engagement with homeless individuals in the U District, and from the Downtown Emergency Services mobile crisis intervention team.

The ongoing issues with people setting up overnight to smoke fentanyl and other drugs, and damage doors and elevators, prompted UW in March to establish a working group on safety issues in buildings and in April to increase the number of unarmed security guards working at night. The guards are assigned to the Central Plaza Garage (and stairways) and check other buildings as determined by calls to UWPD.

Concerns about safety also prompted UW to pay for additional unarmed security on Friday and Saturday nights October to June in the heart of The Ave’s nighttime activity.

In April, sorority and fraternity leadership conducted a North of 45th safety walk with representatives from Seattle Police, Seattle City Light, Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle Department of Transportation to highlight lighting, sidewalk and abandoned buildings challenges.

Calls for concern and safety planning rise this year

SafeCampus, UW’s hub for violence prevention, threat assessment and response, wellbeing concerns and safety planning, responded to 1,268 situations in calendar year 2022. This represents a 25% increase in calls from 2021.

Mental health concerns increase

In 2022, 25% of the situations SafeCampus engaged with related to some type of mental health concern for the caller or someone they study, work, live with or otherwise care about. An additional 7% were related to suicide concerns. And 32% of calls were related to sex- and gender-based harassment, stalking, violence and/or discrimination.

Providing training and safety planning

To help mitigate threats of violence or harm, SafeCampus leads Violence Prevention and Assessment Team Meetings with partners from around the University to think creatively about solutions, de-escalation and safety planning. In 2022, SafeCampus led 36 safety planning meetings.

SafeCampus also offered the Violence Prevention and Response training to 919 people; the Building Healthy Workplaces training to over 850 people; and tailored trainings to 21 departments in 2022.

If you are worried about someone or to request training for your area, please reach out to SafeCampus at safecampus@uw.edu.

Re-energizing emergency preparedness at UW

In November UW launched the new Preparedness Oversight Committee, a critical early step in resetting and reenergizing UW’s post-COVID approach to emergency preparedness and response.

BARC is back

This year marks the return of UW’s BARC (Business, Administration, and Research Continuity) program. BARC – planning for a breakdown or crisis that interrupts regular business operations – was active 2007 through 2018. This year, Jim Tritten was hired as the new BARC program manager for the program’s reboot. Over the next year, UW Bothell, UW Tacoma and key UW Seattle departments will be asked to participate in BARC planning as we get this critical function off the ground. If you’re interested in learning more or have BARC questions, contact Jim at jtritten@uw.edu.

UW leaders practice emergency management skills

In May UWEM hosted more than 50 leaders from the UW’s Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell campuses, and Cascadia College, to get re-grounded in the basics of emergency response and to practice working together during a simulated disaster. The training kicks off a re-commitment to regular emergency response exercises for groups all through the UW system.

Work for the summer and coming year

As we go into summer and prepare for a new school year to start in the fall, we have key priorities to work on with partners, including:

• Developing foundational emergency and security policies.
• Finalizing a contract with REACH for a homeless outreach worker assigned to the Seattle campus.
• Ramping up trainings in de-escalation and active threat response.
• Standing up an advisory committee on campus community safety.
• Developing a plan for naloxone availability on campuses.
• Converting the UW Alert to an “opt out” for text messages.

Finally, I want to say thank you to the students, faculty and staff who engaged with me and others from Campus Community Safety as we worked to solve problems together this year. Across UW you’ve been curious and thoughtful, kind and insistent when called for. Several of you have operated under very difficult circumstances amid competing demands. Thank you for your service. May you have a great summer.

Sincerely,
Sally Clark
Vice President
Division of Campus Community Safety

In the past few months, students, faculty and staff have reported concerns about personal safety on the Seattle campus at night. These issues center heavily on the Central Plaza Garage (CPG), but also include other parking areas and buildings.

Unfortunately, like in other parts of Seattle, these reports describe encountering people displaying disruptive — sometimes threatening — behavior. Students and employees report coming across drug-use paraphernalia and human waste, and report stolen property (including cars), property damage, fires and offensive graffiti.

As a result of the increase in safety issues, we have increased cleanup frequency in the Odegaard and Kane stairwells and elevators connected to the CPG so that the areas are usable for students, staff and faculty. UW Building Services, the UW Police Department, Environmental Health & Safety and Transportation Services are meeting regularly to collaborate on additional strategies to ensure safety for all in the CPG primarily, and also in other campus spaces.

In an effort to prevent these drug use, waste and damage issues from occurring in the first place, UW is immediately increasing the number of unarmed security guards working on the Seattle campus overnight. These guards will be from a private company at first while UW works to staff up internally, and they will be assigned to the CPG and check other buildings as determined by UWPD. The guards will have radios for direct communication with UWPD dispatchers and officers for situations that require a law enforcement response.

These additional security guards are necessary to meet the immediate need for assistance at night. For the CPG, additional security upgrades are slated to start later this summer, including roll-up style gates at the garage entrances, keycard access doors on the pedestrian entrances to the garage, security cameras and wifi. That work is slated to be complete in summer 2024.

It’s important to note that UW and almost every other entity with public spaces in cities across much of the United States are wrestling with how to ensure safety and address the root causes of the issues causing fear and concern – humanity-wrecking addiction; a lack of mental health supports; deep trauma; homelessness; and more.

UW continues to help fund a REACH outreach worker in the U District who builds relationships with people experiencing homelessness and connects them to the help they need – everything from food and clothing to medical care, shelter and mental health and/or substance use treatment. UWPD officers and security guards will keep sharing information about safe places to sleep for those who need support.

Through this combination of short- and long-term efforts — along with continuing work on addressing the root causes of the significant issues facing our society — we aim to provide a safer environment for our students, faculty and staff, as well as all members of our surrounding community.

Steve Charvat’s arrival at the University of Washington as Director of Emergency Management in 2003 brought with it many firsts. Coming to the UW after serving as deputy emergency director in Washington, D.C. — on the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and anthrax scares — Charvat was asked to build an emergency management program at the UW and put some structure around aspects of emergency planning that hadn’t yet been tied together.

In the years leading up to Charvat’s arrival, the Nisqually Earthquake shook the region in 2001, the Center for Urban Horticulture was targeted in a firebombing attack that same year, and the Educational Outreach Building was destroyed in a 2002 fire on the site along 25^th Ave. NE that is now the Northcut Landing retail and office space. These incidents and concerns over emergency preparation and response served as the catalyst for development of a dedicated Emergency Management unit.

The UW soon became a model for emergency preparation, becoming among the first FEMA-designated “disaster-resistant universities” in 2003, and the first university in the Pac-12 and in the state of Washington to be designated “Storm Ready” by the National Weather Service. Charvat also teamed up with the City of Seattle to apply for federal grant funding to equip a state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center, which opened in Spring 2011. The previous EOC was in a small room mostly used for yoga classes in the dilapidated Bryant Building, which has since been demolished.

After nearly two decades, Charvat is stepping down from his role as director of emergency management to pursue other opportunities.

“I feel like I’ve put my mark on the program in laying the foundational elements so that the next generation who lead the program have the tools, knowledge and information available to take it to the next level,” Charvat said. “Each drill, home football game, exercise, training, campus incident, storm response, crisis and disaster over the past 20 years tested our plans, challenged our assumptions and provided a number of lessons learned for future improvement.”

Emergency management is not easily or immediately recognizable to many and, through planning and a little luck, may be called upon in crisis infrequently — the past three years notwithstanding. But, Charvat said, people and organizations have immediate needs when a major threat or disaster happens. The UW’s Emergency Management unit was established to provide a one-stop spot for planning for disasters and coordinated damage assessment, communications, assistance and recovery. With a foundation two decades in the making, the next era of emergency management at the UW is around the corner.

“The UW is a wonderful place to work and I’ve always been very proud of the partnerships and the expertise within the University dedicated to protecting our mission of teaching, research and public service,” Charvat said. “I’ve seen the program grow, and I am confident that the program will continue to meet the challenges of tomorrow by building on the successes of the past.”

A search for Charvat’s successor will get underway in winter quarter.