In times of crises, it’s important that the University and its departments are prepared, informed, and confident. Known as the smallest UW department with only two members, the UW Emergency Management (EM) team provides technical and consulting services for the Seattle Campus and acts as a liaison to other University locations (Bothell, Tacoma, Friday Harbor, and so on).
The OYPC team had the pleasure of talking with Barry Morgan, the Plans, Training and Exercise (PT&E) Manager, about his position and the department’s partnership and involvement in our Youth at UW community!
Department Beginnings – Getting to Know Barry
The department was established 20 years ago in 2003 after the Nisqually earthquake that shook Western Washington in 2001. Steve Charvat became UW’s first Emergency Management Director and has been a “guiding light for UW emergency management enterprise and [someone] who has grown this program from nothing to where it is today,” said Barry. Without the leadership, vision, and work that Steve had poured into this department, it’s hard to imagine what crisis management would look like at the University today.
Working alongside Steve is PT&E Manager, Barry who has been in his role for 4 years. Prior to his current role, Barry worked at the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) headquarters in Washington D.C. in the National Exercise Division working on the state, local, territorial, and tribal level. In his previous position, Barry had the opportunity to help a variety of different communities with exercises and preparedness ranging from the Kentucky Derby to the Superbowl and even working in the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) in D.C. during the 2017 hurricane season of Jose, Maria and Harvey, serving as response and recovery through hurricane disasters in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
Barry’s diverse background in emergency management has allowed him to be able to take on a wide spectrum of responsibilities through the University including:
- The University emergency management comprehension plan
- Being a coordinator for the UW Weather Status Assessment group
- Being a member of the UW Crisis Communications Team and the UW Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD)
Partnering with Youth Programs
With only a team of two handling such an important responsibility for the school, OYPC wondered how working with youth programs differed in challenges than programs with adults.
Most people think that during the summertime, the main UW population is gone which is not true, they are just supplemented by a more vulnerable population.
The UW has a general population of young adults who are able-bodied and independent – a population that comes first to mind for many of us. This population is very different from those in youth programming serving K-12 participants who require more supervision and support. Barry explained that “when we look at youth, we are looking at more populations that are dependent and more vulnerable to threats than young adults – they’re a little bit different to consider.” It’s important to take into consideration that this is a vulnerable population who need more guidance and supervision in the case of an emergency compared to adults who display more independent thinking and reactions in emergency situations. Youth are not going to be independently thinking during a disaster nor can they sustain themselves – with this information in mind, the EM team must remember to plan differently for youth concerns compared to the rest of the UW populations.
Although Barry and Steve are the experts, Barry emphasized how important it is to have youth programming voices involved in the planning processes to make sure unique concerns are being addressed. Barry explained that “[they] need to be more inclusive of K -12” and different populations that are on our campuses regardless of the time they are on our campus, whether they’re here for 24 hours or 2 weeks.” Because dependent individuals are so different from independent individuals, the emergency preparedness plans and procedures must be different as well. It can be difficult to transition for a big campus, but Emergency Management, along with program directors, do their best.
Emergency management has a strong relationship with OYPC that has allowed for great consideration in developing important policies that protect the safety of minors and how it relates to emergency planning, such as Administrative Policy Statement (APS) 10.13. Barry shared that being a part of the youth protection planning processes has moved these necessary conversations, regarding youth concerns, into other UW areas. Consulting and partnering with OYPC has helped the youth community have more of a voice in emergency planning decision making. Barry explained that inviting OYPC and partners into planning sessions and working groups makes sure the Emergency Management team doesn’t lose sight of the needs and concerns of youth at the University.
It is EM’s goal to continue updating and reviewing the APS that oversees youth programs with the OYPC team as well as reviewing planning requirements, guidance, and best practices annually. For example, making sure current plans are accounting for the vast range of emergencies that impact UW beyond just power outages or weather hazards.
With the air quality impacts increasing in recent years, in both a local and global context, it has been more crucial than ever to plan ahead with the right partners to update the actions UW will take during extreme heat and poor air quality. EM partners with the Weather Status Assessment Group and Strategic Working Group to strategize the appropriate plan of actions for the diverse populations on campus. Some questions that help guide these conversations include, “How do we include youth in that planning and decision making process? How can we better transmit what to do during that impact onto campus?”
Closing a chapter & starting new endeavors
This year will have a lot of new changes for the EM department. The year began with a new parent department, Campus Community Safety, and after serving the UW community for over 20 years, Steve Charvat is ready to retire, leaving his legacy for Barry and future EM members to continue. The EM department is actively looking for a new hire to join the team and continue the two person department.
The EM department recently reinvisioned how EM looks at the UW. Barry talked about how a potential change in governance of EM across the UW, taking more of an enterprise-wide approach to preparedness, can make the University more resilient in the face of disasters in how they prepare.
As a big picture goal, the EM department would like to strengthen and grow the new Preparedness Oversight Committee. Through the committee, they hope to create new plans, increase resiliency through continuity planning and in the emergency center and focus on both Administrative Policy Statement (APS) and youth programs.
As we are all still recovering from how the pandemic has changed our course of work, Barry hopes to move back to having in-person table-top exercises with youth programs and UW admin to test current safety plans and address what is working well. Barry wants to take that feedback into planning sessions to make improvements and adjust current plans. A crucial part of Barry’s work is to always plan ahead, for example, the best time to plan for heat and air quality is right now in the winter time.
How can we make it an annual thing to bring youth program leaders together to run table-top exercises like this? How can we come together to identify those gaps and improve on our planning?
With all the hard work and dedication Barry has poured into his work, we wondered what his favorite part of his position was! Barry’s favorite part of his role is being able to “work with really smart people in different focus and functional areas and responsibilities.” Barry gets to work with folks ranging from state earthquakes to climatologists regarding heat to weather service people regarding snow storms. A big part of his role is being able to learn from other people in different areas and getting to hear about their different perspectives.
Wrapping it up
It’s clear to say that as the PT&E manager, you get to be a jack of all trades as you are not always focused on one thing. Because it’s necessary to prepare for any type of emergency that can happen, no day is exactly the same, which makes the job even more exciting.
Barry’s most memorable moment in his role was the 2019 UW versus Cal football game where the power went out at Husky Stadium and Barry was there at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) on campus.
You can visit Steve Charvat of the EM team at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) located in UW tower in the C building in the basement. To stay up to date regarding new personal preparedness courses and new job openings, please visit their website to learn more!
Thank you to Barry for taking the time out of his busy schedule to give our community a better insight of his work in Emergency Management. We are so grateful for Barry and Steve’s partnership over the past few years since the creation of the OYPC.
Learn more about the Preparedness Oversight Committee here.
Lear more about the new Continuity and Resiliency Program Manager position here.