Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Business Continuity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Internal audit consultation recommends independent continuity planning for UT institutes and agricultural extension
Summary
An internal audit consultation summarized readiness across campuses for continuity of operations and recommended separate continuity planning guidance, additional support for distributed agricultural research and extension sites, and training and resources to improve resilience after events such as Hurricane Helene.
Internal audit presented the findings of a consultation project on business continuity readiness at nine University of Tennessee campuses and institutes and recommended system-level guidance and additional resources for distributed agricultural and extension operations.
Andrea Addis summarized the project, which the audit team treated as a consultation rather than a formal audit because business continuity planning is not currently required by system governance. The work used FEMA and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) guidance to rate readiness at each campus and institute and produced detailed reports on maturity for each element tested.
Key recommendations included developing system policy and guidance that require independent continuity planning separate from emergency response, specifying plan content and roles, and increasing personnel and resources for agricultural research and extension (UTIA) continuity because distributed sites do not always fall within campus geographic footprints during localized events.
Chancellor Plowman and UTIA leadership described a recent operational "stress test" following Hurricane Helene flooding in upper East Tennessee, where six extension offices were affected. UTIA and local extension offices worked with county officials to get offices functioning quickly; UTIA leaders said the institute was assembling a continuity-of-operations plan leveraging internal faculty expertise and coordinating with campus stakeholders.
Addis and campus leaders emphasized continuity planning should focus on sustaining critical business activities within 12 hours of an event and for up to about 30 days.
Ending: Audit recommended formal system guidance and additional resources for UTIA and other distributed operations; campuses will continue to develop continuity plans and coordinate with system leadership.
