Universities experience the risk and impact of natural and human hazards on a frequent basis. To mitigate these hazards through planning, the University of Massachusetts hired Woodard & Curran to develop a Multi-Campus Hazard Mitigation Plan for four of its campuses and obtain final approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The plan identifies measures to reduce or eliminate risk to life and property allowing the University to be eligible for funding assistance for hazard mitigation projects.
ENGAGING MORE THAN 100 CAMPUS STAKEHOLDERS
At each campus, Woodard & Curran engaged diverse campus stakeholders, external stakeholders, and regulators through public workshops, interviews, meetings, and phone discussions to identify, profile, and prioritize natural and human hazards. Working with these groups, the firm assessed potential impacts to campus assets, prepared loss estimates, developed mitigation goals and objectives to minimize the hazards, and determined projects to support hazard mitigation planning.
IDENTIFYING VULNERABILITIES TO NATURAL AND HUMAN HAZARDS
Woodard & Curran reviewed available data and examined each campus area for risks associated with a 100-year flood and other severe weather events, as well as risks related to human hazards. Woodard & Curran determined impacts to assets at risk using GIS to inventory and overlay multiple hazards. The University is one of a few collegiate systems in the Northeast to have a FEMA-approved Multi-Campus Hazard Mitigation Plan, which also allows the University to apply for future non-emergency related funding from FEMA for identified projects.
