Sarasota, Florida | January 27, 2020 – Today, Everglades University Sarasota announced that the National Weather Service-Tampa Bay will be designating the Everglades University Sarasota campus as a “StormReady Supporter” University in recognition of the procedures established by Campus Administration to protect individuals and the campus infrastructure during weather emergencies. Everglades University Sarasota will join many Florida-based colleges and universities in earning this distinction.
Representatives from the National Weather Service and our Sarasota and Manatee County Emergency Management partners will be on campus January 27, 2020 at 6:00 pm for a Recognition Ceremony. The public is invited to attend the event to celebrate EU Sarasota students and faculty receiving recognition for this accomplishment. For more information or to RSVP for the event please contact the Everglades University Sarasota at 941-907-2262.
Since April 2019, Everglades University Sarasota students in the Crisis and Disaster Management degree program have utilized the knowledge they have learned from their course work to put forth a coordinated effort to assist our campus in achieving this recognition. “The students’ goal was to ensure our campus is prepared to react to dangerous conditions and that everyone on campus remains safe during severe weather emergencies”, said Tim Oldham, Crisis and Disaster Management program faculty. According to Oldham, the EU Sarasota students wanted to give back to Everglades University by accomplishing this as their “Legacy Project” to our campus.
In order for Everglades University Sarasota to receive this designation, “Supporter” locations must meet the following required guidelines: have reliable methods to receive notice of severe weather conditions and issued weather warnings; demonstrate functional communications capable of disseminating weather warnings to those on campus; maintain a plan for building occupants to follow in the event of severe weather; and ensure personnel have attended weather training classes and advanced emergency management training.
Once recognized as a “Supporter”, Everglades University Sarasota must be prepared to demonstrate it’s on-going “readiness posture” at the request of Sarasota County Emergency Management. Additionally, this designation must be reviewed by the National Weather Service every five years to remain current.
“The StormReady designation affirms Everglades University’s commitment to protecting all of those in our campus community. I am so proud of our Crisis and Disaster Management students and faculty for their dedication to this project and for achieving this prestigious designation for EU,” said Caroline King, Campus Vice President, EU Sarasota.