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News and information

2024 Annual Report

Key Accomplishments

  • Launched the new version of Husky Ready online continuity planning tool to make the planning process easier and provide more in-depth
    information for departments using the plan during and after a disruption.
  • Introduced BARC cohorts, small groups that work together with BARC facilitation to create their continuity plans.
  • Established a cross-functional, enterprise-wide group of stakeholders to share lessons learned from incidents and disruptions on a quarterly basis.
  • Helped develop the annual Board of Regents exercise with continuity specific objectives.
  • Updated the BARC website with a significant amount of new and
    revised content.

BARC cohorts begin

A group of employees meet around a table and look at laptop computers while they work on their department's business continuity plans.

To facilitate improved content in Husky Ready plan, the BARC Program Office introduced a new option for building a continuity plan: BARC cohorts.

These small groups work together to develop their plans meeting on a scheduled basis over several months in a collaborative environment to learn from each other and share best practices.

The first cohort launched in March 2025 and is scheduled to end in August 2025.

2024 Program Objectives and Status

  • Develop and facilitate at least one exercise with a continuity focus.
    Status: Met
  • Update BARC website content. Status: Met
  • Complete transition of UW-IT continuity project deliverables to the Husky Ready platform. Status: In Progress
  • Develop and socialize to stakeholders a continuity program framework and the new University policy requiring continuity
    plans (APS 13.2). Status: In Progress

Plans

In progress

  • Research – Human Subjects Division
  • UAA – Experiential Learning
  • Office of Animal Welfare
  • Disability Services
  • Comparative Medicine
  • School of Social Work
  • Applied Physics Lab
  • WA National Primate Research Center
  • Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies
  • College of Arts & Sciences
  • Student Life – Recreation
  • iSchool
  • School of Dentistry

Completed plans

  • Naval Science
  • Odegaard Writing & Research Center

2025 Program Objectives

  1. Target key departments to initiate planning
  2. Collaborate with UWEM on development of standard After Action Report tool and process
  3. Develop Husky Ready plan summary report
  4. Continue BARC planning cohorts

Questions? Need help with your continuity plan?

Contact Jim Tritten, Continuity & Resiliency Program Manager, jtritten@uw.edu

2023 Annual Report

BARC is back

A photograph of an umbrella with water rushing off of it

In 2023, the University reestablished the Business, Academic & Research Continuity (BARC) program as part of UW’s Division of Campus Community Safety with dedicated leadership for tri-campus continuity planning.

Disruptions to critical business functions can range from minor to imperiling life safety, and every department at UW should build plans for continuing work in the event of a disruption.

2023 Key Accomplishments

  • Completed a revision of the University policy requiring continuity plans (APS13.2) and submitted for approval.
  • Collaborated on major UW-IT risk and continuity planning initiative.
  • Reestablished Husky Ready access and support for users. Husky Ready is the online continuity planning tool for the University of Washington.
  • Established a continuity and resiliency community of practice.
  • Coordinated a refresh of the Critical Facilities Index, a tool used to help prioritize the order of post-earthquake building damage assessments.

Continuity Plans

A data visualization showing 319 plans listed by BARC

A continuity plan is a way to rehearse and be ready for a disruptive event, one that keeps a unit from accomplishing its work in the usual ways. Any unit can make a plan, but some units must have a plan based on regulatory or funding requirements.

UW’s online continuity planning tool, Husky Ready, has 331 plans listed, with 306 of those plans listed as being in progress as of May 2024. The plans are in varying degrees of completion ranging from placeholders to almost ready for final review.

UW-IT Risk & Continuity Initiative

 

A photograph of a person using two laptops to complete their work

As an outcome of a 2021 Risk Management audit identifying cybersecurity as an enterprise concern, UW-IT utilized a consulting group to build continuity plans for selected departments that would have the most significant consequences to the University if impacted by an extended technology disruption.

The deliverables of this project included completed Business Impact Analyses with associated Business Continuity Plans, an analysis of critical business functions with impact statements to financials, strategy, operations, brand and compliance. A list of recommended actions was also created and subsequently shared with Preparedness Oversight Committee.

2024 Program Objectives

  • Develop and socialize to stakeholders a continuity program framework and the new University policy requiring continuity plans (APS 13.2).
  • Complete transition of UWIT continuity project deliverables to the Husky Ready platform.
  • Develop and facilitate at least one exercise with a continuity focus.
  • Update BARC website content.

Questions? Need help with your continuity plan?

Contact Jim Tritten, Continuity & Resiliency Program Manager, jtritten@uw.edu