Emergency Preparedness

Emergency notification information for:

• SCAD Atlanta
• SCAD Hong Kong
• SCAD Lacoste
• SCAD off-campus programs
• SCAD Savannah

SCAD collaborates for safety

SCAD's first priority is students and in order to best serve our students we do everything we can to ensure their safety. As a result, our emergency management and preparedness is aligned with federal, state and local emergency management agencies, as well as with local fire, law enforcement and other emergency first responders.

This means SCAD collaborates at the federal level on emergency management and disaster planning with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security. On the state level, SCAD works with The Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) to prepare for any possible disaster. On the local levels, at SCAD Savannah, the Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), and at SCAD Atlanta, the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency (AFCEMA) are responsible for disaster preparation.

All-hazard emergency preparedness plan

As much as we try to avoid them, crisis situations arise and predicting how and when they will strike is difficult, making it is necessary to always be prepared. With this in mind, SCAD has created an all-hazard emergency preparedness plan to assist  members of the SCAD community in responding to emergencies. The tools and steps outlined in the plan can be used in nearly all emergencies. Due to the tropical weather in SCAD locations--ideal for hurricane season--many examples in the plan focus on emergency weather-related scenarios.

Emergency notification

Communication with students, faculty and staff is essential and can be especially difficult in times of crisis. To enable us to communicate as timely and effectively as possible with the SCAD community, a comprehensive communication system used exclusively in emergencies has been established. Multiple methods--Internet, cell phone, television and radio broadcast--are used to contact the community in a timely, effective manner.

 

These methods are as follows:

Blackboard Connect
Blackboard Connect is a Web-based method of rapidly notifying all SCAD students, faculty and staff through recorded messages via telephone and email when a crisis or emergency situation arises. The system is activated by the communications department to deliver news and information, such as school closures or recommended evacuation routes, to the SCAD community as quickly as possible.

This system relies on current contact information provided by students, faculty and staff. All members of the SCAD community need to keep their information updated in MySCAD to ensure delivery of emergency messages.

Web support
In the event of a closure of SCAD or an evacuation, this website will continue to function as an important source of information.

Further questions about crisis preparedness may be directed to SCAD communications. (Note: This email address will not be functional in the event of a crisis.)

Notifications of closure
Either the president or the executive vice president may authorize the closing of SCAD facilities or evacuation of the residence halls prior to a mandatory evacuation order issued by CEMA. In the event of such an occurrence, students will be notified in the above outlined methods of communication.