The university’s emergency department has broken away from the Department of Environmental Health and Safety and become the Department of Emergency Management.
The new department will be housed with the Division of Public Safety, said Linda Stump, UF chief of police and assistant vice president of public and environmental safety. She said establishing emergency management as its own department is in step with the growth of emergency management across the country.
Kenneth Allen, emergency manager for the new department, said other universities and colleges have emergency management growing on their campuses.
Allen said his role will be to coordinate the emergency management program, which includes focusing on issues and continuing initiatives.
Now that emergency management is identified as its own department, he said it can bring more attention to safety on campus.
“Our goal is always to focus on preparedness and university response,” he said.
Stump said the department will be able to give students all kinds of updates, including UFAlerts and weather updates.
“We want people to recognize Emergency Management as a resource,” she said.
Funding for the department hasn’t changed, Stump said.
She said a goal of emergency management is to continue outreach, to prepare for an active shooter and prepare buildings for an emergency.
“People will see more proactive, educational initiatives to make sure the community is informed,” she said.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 10/18/2013 under the headline "UF emergency management now its own department"
