Campus exercises to test emergency response procedures

Dear students, faculty and staff,

On  Monday, Dec. 15, the UIC Office of Preparedness and Response, in coordination with campus leadership and public safety partners, conducted an announced emergency-preparedness exercise at the UIC Health Sciences Campus-Rockford. The exercise included a planned law enforcement tactical drill followed by a scenario-based functional exercise focused on validating life-safety procedures, coordination protocols, leadership decision-making, behavioral threat assessment and management processes during a simulated active threat incident.

On Thursday, Dec. 18, UIC conducted an announced functional exercise on the Chicago campus focused on testing the university’s emergency response and family support procedures. This exercise evaluated UIC’s ability to coordinate campus operations during a high-impact incident, with particular emphasis on supporting students and families, managing information flow and aligning response activities across academic affairs, student affairs, public safety, emergency-management functions and violence threat mitigation efforts.

These exercises are part of UIC’s ongoing commitment to preparedness, compassion and continuous improvement. Together, they tested key components of the university’s Emergency Operations Plan and Violence Prevention Plan, allowing UIC to identify opportunities for improvement and strengthen readiness before a real emergency occurs.

In addition to exercises such as these, UIC Alert, the university’s emergency notification system, is tested monthly on the first Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m. These tests help ensure the system functions properly and the campus community remains familiar with emergency communications.

Learn more about emergency preparedness, safety resources and training at www.ready.uic.edu.

Thank you for your continued commitment to campus safety and resilience.

Karen Colley
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Chancellor’s Emergency Operations Policy Group Co-Chair

John Coronado
Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services
Chancellor’s Emergency Operations Policy Group Co-Chair

David Abraham
Associate Vice Chancellor for Organizational Resilience

For more information, please contact:
Emergency Preparedness
ready@uic.edu