Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities: Phase 2 Business Continuity Plans (BCP) builds on Phase 1 (completed with prior CSREES Special Needs funding). An administrative decision was made that OSUE's program delivery responses to emergency or disaster situations needed to be uniform across the state; basic protocols would provide the same level of service and programming regardless of county location. The BIA also included the technological dependencies, minimum resources needed to do the process at another location, and continuity strategies to mitigate three types of risks to recovery of operations:1) unavailability of majority (60%-80%) of staff, 2) unavailability of technology, and 3) loss of county office. Project staff delivered five BCP Phase 2 training sessions for county offices approved for Phase 2. Each 2-hour interactive, electronic session was delivered via WebEx. Thirty-three of the eligible 37 county offices (89%) participated in the training. A follow-up to the 2008 testing and evaluation of Phase 1 was conducted and included Phase 2. The emergency preparedness of all 88 county offices was tested via a phone call. Additional WebEx sessions were developed for regional offices and Extension centers. These sessions were three hours each and combined Phases 1 and 2. An online survey of Plan Owners' and Plan Managers' attitudes and perceptions of BCP was developed and disseminated. Services: Project staff updated the Emergency Management Planning and Education webpage (http://fabe.osu.edu/empe/), specifically designed for OSUE BCP owners/managers. This page contains all Testing and Evaluation Results for 2008 & 2010, as well as all BCP educational materials and project resources, including Camtasia training video, login instructions for online software, Standards of an Excellent Plan, and curriculum. A link to this webpage is on the OSUE Organizational Resources, http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~intranet/. Events: The Phase 2 Business Impact Analysis processes identified by project staff was approved by a steering committee consisting of OSUE Administrative Cabinet members, of which some are also members of the Crisis Management Team. The BIA document was added to 31 county plans, 2 OSUE Centers, and 1 regional office that achieved an "Excellent" rating on their Phase 1of BCP. A training video was uploaded to the Resources section of http://fabe.osu.edu/empe. The BCP Curriculum was added to the EDEN Resources Catalog with a link to OSU Ag Safety & Health, http://agsafety.osu.edu/ash/programs/disaster_recovery.html. Products: A Camtasia training video was produced for OSUE outlying office staff; it highlights the webpage resources, explains BCP concepts, and demonstrates utilization of the online software. Educational tips about emergency mgt and BCP were included in a monthly electronic newsletter to all OSU Extension personnel. These articles also emphasized state and national resources available through USDA, eXtension, FEMA, and EDEN. County Extension staff reproduced many of these articles in their local media outlets. All resources developed in Phase 1&2 were assembled onto a CD-ROM and were distributed to each state's EDEN delegate. PARTICIPANTS: Dee Jepsen served as Project Director and was responsible for the administration and supervision of project activities. Jepsen worked with the project's Program Coordinator and Program Assistant, as well as the OSU Crisis Management Team to coordinate and implement the project goals. She facilitated coordination with state agency stakeholders, oversaw educational and evaluation components, and managed fiscal and administrative aspects of the project. Aletha Reshan was sponsored 100% by OSU Extension and served as the matching dollars for this project. Reshan managed the day-to-day activities of the project where she was the coordination and communication link between county Extension offices and other stakeholder groups. She developed the business impact analysis, recovery time objectives, and mitigation strategies for risks to recovery and included these in the Business Continuity Planning Curriculum. She quality controlled each county's plan to ensure it met the Standards of an Excellent Plan rubric, which she also developed. Reshan is an active member of the OSU Crisis Management Team and works cooperatively with staff in Communications and Technology. Kathy Henwood works under the leadership of the Project Director and assisted OSU county Extension offices with business continuity planning. She assisted in developing the business impact analysis and recovery time objectives. She was responsible for the format and development of the Business Continuity Curriculum and technology transfer to CD-ROM. She assists field faculty with general requests for information and supports the functions of the Crisis Management Team. Partners Partners included Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA), and Ohio Fire Academy (OFA). Professional development sessions were offered multiple times throughout the year for OSU Extension professionals. Two national workshops were offered at the EDEN Annual meeting for Extension colleagues in the United States. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience was county Extension personnel, specifically county directors, who are by default the plan owners, and the individual they assign to be the plan manager. Project staff provided one-on-one assistance as requested to each county as they worked on their plan. Project staff also engaged with OSUE Administrative Cabinet for approval regarding the business impact analysis and recovery time objectives that were developed. Project staff also provided project briefings to OSUE Administrative Cabinet. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The outcomes of the preparedness test is that all county offices were reminded of the importance of staff being able to locate, access, read, and understand their office BCP. Seventy-five out of 88 (85%) counties were able to locate their BCP, with 52 of these offices (69%) locating up-to-date BCPs thus enabling staff to accurately answer questions pertaining to Phase 1 based on the Standards of an Excellent Plan. County office preparedness increased over 100% from the 2008 preparedness call in which only 35 out of 88 county offices (40%) could locate their BCP. Of the 36 county offices that had already proceeded to Phase 2 of the BCP process, 22 (61%) had hard copy access to their Phase 2 document and could thus accurately answer questions regarding Phase 2. The outcomes of the 2010 evaluation of plan content resulted in 31 additional county office BCPs meeting the Standards of an Excellent Plan and being approved for Phase 2. The impact of OSUE outlying offices having a completed BCP is that their ability to continue business operations during an emergency or disaster and the recovery phase is enhanced. This in turn enhances the organizations ability across the state to meet clientele needs, serve as a community resource during crises, and adds value to community preparedness at the local, regional, and state levels. The online survey had a 49% response rate with 48 Plan Owners and 34 Plan Managers responding. The outcome of the data collected is that we learned what personal characteristics influenced the respondents' performance on the project and what their perceptions and attitudes were regarding BCP. The impact of this knowledge is an improved understanding of conditions that affect staff's ability or willingness to complete this type of emergency planning effort. This knowledge is beneficial to other state's considering adopting this planning process and will aid them in understanding what characteristics, attitudes, and perceptions to nurture. The impacts of having the curriculum available on two different webpages is that it reaches the internal, organizational OSUE staff as well as external, CES organizations nationwide. The impact of the Camtasia training video is that there is resource available to sustain this project as Plan Owners and Plan Managers change over time.
Publications
- Reshan, A.I. 2010. Emergency Management Tip of the Month. Ag Safety S.T.A.T. Newsletter, Vol 3, No 1 thru 5.
- Reshan, A.I. 2009. Emergency Management Tip of the Month. Ag Safety S.T.A.T. Newsletter, Vol 2, No 1 thru 10.
- Jepsen, S.D., Reshan, A.I., and Henwood, M.K., 2009. Business Continuity Planning Curriculum, CD-ROM. The Ohio State University.
- Jepsen, S.D. and Reshan, A.I., 2009. OSUE Video Communique: Response to Real Emergencies and Need for OSUE Business Continuity Planning. Department of Communications and Technology, The Ohio State University. http://clickvideo.ag.ohio-state.edu/communique_609/communique_609.htm l.
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities: Phase 2 Business Continuity Plans (BCP) builds on Phase 1 (completed with prior CSREES Special Needs funding). An administrative decision was made that OSUE's program delivery responses to emergency or disaster situations needed to be uniform across the state; basic protocols would provide the same level of service and programming regardless of county location. Therefore, project staff developed a business impact analysis (BIA) with the following processes identified and prioritized for the organization at the county level: Human Resources, Fiscal/Business, Customer Service/Communications, Government/Media Relations, Community Development Programming, Family and Consumer Science Programming, Agriculture and Natural Resources Programming, and 4-H Programming. The BIA also included the technological dependencies, minimum resources needed to do the process at another location, and continuity strategies to mitigate three types of risks to recovery of operations. The three risks included 1) unavailability of majority (60%-80%) of staff, 2) unavailability of technology, and 3) loss of county office. The cover sheet of the BIA explained the purpose and use of the BIA for county personnel once their office operation had been restored. Services: Project staff developed a webpage for OSUE BCP owners and managers that included all educational materials related to BCP. The web address is http://fabe.osu.edu/empe/. A link to this webpage is entitled Emergency Management and is prominently located on the OSUE Organizational Resources, http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~intranet/. Events: The BIA document was added to all county plans that achieved an "Excellent" rating on their Phase 1of BCP and were signed-off by the project coordinator as ready to move forward in the planning process. An "Excellent" rating indicated the plan met the standards set forth by the project coordinator for a quality plan that contained all mandatory information. The Phase 2 business impact analysis processes identified by project staff was approved by a steering committee consisting of OSUE Administrative Cabinet members, of which some are also members of the Crisis Management Team. Products: Educational tips about emergency management and BCP were incorporated into a monthly electronic newsletter to all OSU Extension personnel. These articles also emphasized state and national resources available to Extension offices through USDA, eXtension, FEMA, and EDEN. County Extension staff reproduced many of these articles in their local media outlets. Developed Phase 2 BCP Curriculum that included Business Impact Analysis, Recovery Time Objectives, and Mitigation Strategies for three types of risks to recovery of operations. These curriculum resources were added to the BCP Curriculum Book, Plan Development Workbook, Workshop PowerPoint, Overview PowerPoint, and templates developed in Phase I. All resources were included on a CD-ROM, and distributed to each state's EDEN delegate. PARTICIPANTS: Dee Jepsen served as Project Director and was responsible for the administration and supervision of project activities. Jepsen worked with the project's Program Coordinator and Program Assistant, as well as the OSU Crisis Management Team to coordinate and implement the project goals. She facilitated coordination with state agency stakeholders, oversaw educational and evaluation components, and managed fiscal and administrative aspects of the project. Aletha Reshan was sponsored 100% by OSU Extension and served as the matching dollars for this project. Reshan managed the day-to-day activities of the project where she was the coordination and communication link between county Extension offices and other stakeholder groups. She developed the business impact analysis, recovery time objectives, and mitigation strategies for risks to recovery and included these in the Business Continuity Planning Curriculum. She quality controlled each county's plan to ensure it met the Standards of an Excellent Plan rubric, which she also developed. Reshan is an active member of the OSU Crisis Management Team and works cooperatively with staff in Communications and Technology. Kathy Henwood works under the leadership of the Project Director and assisted OSU county Extension offices with business continuity planning. She assisted in developing the business impact analysis and recovery time objectives. She was responsible for the format and development of the Business Continuity Curriculum and technology transfer to CD-ROM. She assists field faculty with general requests for information and supports the functions of the Crisis Management Team. Partners Partners included Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA), and Ohio Fire Academy (OFA). TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience was county Extension personnel, specifically county directors, who are by default the plan owners, and the individual they assign to be the plan manager. Project staff provided one-on-one assistance as requested to each county as they worked on their plan. Project staff also engaged with OSUE Administrative Cabinet for approval regarding the business impact analysis and recovery time objectives that were developed. Project staff also provided project briefings to OSUE Administrative Cabinet. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Phase 2 BCP resources were incorporated into the Business Continuity Planning Curriculum that was jointly sponsored by an earlier CSREES Special Needs grant. Packaging Phase 2 with the earlier developed Phase 1 resources provided a cohesive and comprehensive curriculum. This also increased the efficiency of distribution to national CES organizations during the annual meeting of EDEN delegates.
Impacts
Forty-three percent of OSUE county offices have a complete BCP consisting of Phase I and Phase 2. Having a complete BCP means that the office has a plan that will assist them in negotiating the first four hours following an emergency or disaster, as well as guide them through the decision making process to prioritize services that must be delivered within the recovery time objectives to prevent a negative impact for the county office, the organization, or the community. OSUE administration is committed to maintaining operations during emergencies and disasters and this project has enabled county offices to learn and understand the importance of business continuity planning and develop a plan that enables them to meet that commitment. Having "prepared" county offices increases the preparedness of the entire organization in meeting community expectations during times of crisis. It is paramount that Extension county offices remain engaged, useful, and relevant during emergencies and disasters. This increase in knowledge has been shared with Cooperative Extension Services nationwide through a comprehensive Business Continuity Planning Curriculum. In addition to Extension organizations, Easter Seals of Ohio requested the curriculum CD-ROM to assist their organization in preparedness planning efforts.
Publications
- Jepsen, S.D., Reshan, A.I., and Henwood, M.K., 2009. Business Continuity Planning Curriculum, The Ohio State University.
- Reshan, A.I., 2009. Emergency Management Tip of the Month. Ag Safety S.T.A.T. Newsletter, Vol 2, No 1 through 7.
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