Internal Audit Compliance Reminder - Updating Business Continuity Plans

July 08 2009

Summer is a good time to complete projects that cannot be finished during the academic year. It also affords the opportunity to reflect upon changes that have occurred as well as those planned for the upcoming year. One area that the Internal Audit Department encourages offices/units/departments to devote attention to is their business continuity plan (BCP). According to Tom York, director of internal audit, when the department reviewed college and division BCPs in 2007, it noted room for improvement in many areas.

“One area to check is your notification plan – how do you get the word out on an emergency situation? Make sure everyone knows about the University alerts Web site at http://unccharlottealerts.com and has signed up for text message notification for critical alerts,” said York.

Each division, college, department and center should create its own BCP. York said the plan can be a lengthy, formal document using the format of the BCP Planner or a simple one using the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) format. Templates for both plans can be found on the BCP Web page. York noted as part of this planning it is important to decide how office operations will resume in a degraded or sub-optimal mode until normal operations are restored. He added that discussions should include what resources are necessary to operate as recovery occurs.

“Each year, natural and man-made disasters strike colleges and universities across the country,” said York. “While the H1N1 swine flu has been officially classified as a pandemic, its impact on us so far has been minimal. This could change overnight and without much warning. Each year, there are departments and colleges that wish they had paid more attention to business continuity before the disaster occurred. Don’t be one of those departments.”

Another summer topic of interest should be building evacuation plans. During this time of year, new people rotate into new positions, and there are some office relocations. Such situations provide the opportunity to discuss how to evacuate the buildings’ offices by the quickest route and where to meet the rest of departmental personnel once outside.