Scott Burnotes, UM’s director of emergency management, discusses the mutual aid agreement at a congressional briefing.
UM News
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (June 19, 2015) —When Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and closed Tulane University for a semester, other colleges and universities came to the private institution’s aid—but at their own risk. After all, many institutions of higher education are not party to mutual aid agreements that could protect them from liability and facilitate federal reimbursement when they help fellow institutions in times of crisis.
But that’s about to change, thanks to an initiative spearheaded in part by the University of Miami. Earlier this month, Scott Burnotes, UM’s director of emergency management, and his colleagues from the International Association of Emergency Managers’ University and College Caucus received positive feedback about their proposed National Intercollegiate Mutual Aid Agreement at a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C. Burnotes, who spoke at a panel discussion hosted by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure June 3, expects the same positive response this week as UM hosts the annual summit of emergency managers from the 15 institutions in the Atlantic Coast Conference on the Coral Gables campus, beginning June 22.
That’s because Burnotes, a member of the working group that developed the voluntary agreement, believes it will significantly strengthen higher education’s ability to recover from disasters nationwide by limiting what he calls “hesitation” time.
“For major emergencies, or even smaller ones, colleges and universities know we can’t do it alone,” he said. “We know we will need help from fellow institutions that understand our unique needs and while we’re already doing that, it’s usually on a phone call or handshake, which raises liability and reimbursement issues. This agreement sets up a nationally recognized mechanism for higher education institutions to assist each other quickly, when it’s needed the most, and in a manner consistent with best practices. So it maximizes reimbursement, reduces liability, and limits the hesitation to help, which can save lives.”
The National Intercollegiate Mutual Aid Agreement, or NIMAA, Burnotes said, is particularly important to private institutions like UM because, unlike state schools, they cannot directly participate in established public mutual aid agreements. Under the proposed agreement, which is expected to be finalized soon and garner 50 early signatories by the fall, participating universities and colleges will not only have a system for tracking and submitting expenses, but easy access to the kind of mutual aid other institutions are willing and able to offer. That could include anything from facilities experts and counselors to lab space for sensitive specimens and practice and playing fields for displaced sports teams.
“It could be any of the things we would want to continue doing in the recovery process, but need help with because our own staff is being impacted,” Burnotes said. “In times like that, it’s best to call on institutions that are familiar with what we do. It’s a force-multiplier.”
The University and College Caucus formally identified the need for NIMAA in 2011, following several shootings and numerous hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, meningitis outbreaks, and other crises that affected or closed campuses across the nation.
Given its geographic location in hurricane-prone South Florida, Burnotes said UM has an obvious interest and stake in being disaster-resilient and remains a leader in the caucus. But it and every other institution has an equal interest in assuring all of its fellow institutions are prepared to handle—and help out— during disasters, too. That’s why NIMAA will be open to any and all institutions of higher learning, big or small, private or public.
“That’s the beauty of this,” Burnotes said. “The document is very flexible and generic. All it does is streamline the aid process so any institution of higher learning can participate, and the more that do the more powerful the agreement becomes.”
