October 21, 2008

Purdue receives federal grant for emergency preparedness

The $436,325 Emergency Management in Higher Education grant is from the U.S. Department of Education and is one of 17 the agency provided to institutions around the nation. Some 259 applied for grants.

The grant will provide funding to update plans, increase training and exercises for security and emergency preparedness across the campus, and allow for the hiring of temporary staff, said Carol Shelby, senior director of environmental health and public safety.

Shelby's office, along with the Purdue Homeland Security Institute, co-wrote the grant. Purdue has already established a campuswide preparedness plan involving multiple entities within the university. The grant will help the university enhance mental health, communication, and transportation needs in its written plan. Attention will be given to planning for those with disabilities.

The grant also will be used to increase the number of campus community members trained in the National Incident Management System. The system is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and provides a template for government, the private sector and nongovernmental entities to work together during a crisis. Purdue also will perform a campuswide risk assessment to identify planning needs and requirements.

Funds also will allow Ron Wright, director of emergency preparedness, to hire a full-time assistant and a half-time clerical assistant. Both positions will be 18-month assignments. Discovery Park's Purdue Homeland Security Institute will hire up to three graduate students that bring academic resources to bear on campus safety and security issues while providing an interdisciplinary education challenge for students. 

"This partnership between operations and education allows us to squeeze maximum value from this grant both for our campus readiness and our education missions," said Alan H. Rebar, executive director of Purdue’s Discovery Park.  

Shelby and J. Eric Dietz, director of the Purdue Homeland Security Institute and founding director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, are principal investigators. Wright is project director.

Writer: Jim Bush, (765) 494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu

Source: Carol Shelby (765) 494-7504, cshelby@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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