Emergency Procedures

Dial one of the following numbers 24 hours per day/7days per week.

Decatur Campus emergencies
call extension 2911 or (256) 306-2911

For Huntsville Campus emergencies
call extension 4711 or (256) 890-4711.

For Alabama Center for the Arts, call 911 for emergencies and for non-emergencies, call (256) 260-4305

We suggest that students and employees place these numbers in their cell phone quick-dial list.

Also see Campus Police directory.

Emergency Preparedness Plan

The primary purpose of the Emergency Preparedness Plan at Calhoun Community College is to ensure the continued health and safety of Calhoun students, employees, and campus visitors should any emergency event occur.

The College is committed to providing appropriate information to students, faculty, and staff to assist them during campus emergencies. The College has an Emergency Operations Plan available for review in all campus offices and on-line, and posts evacuation maps in strategic locations. An Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC) is charged by the President to review the manual on a regular basis and to suggest revisions and improvements to the Emergency Response Procedures in order to maintain and improve those processes. The EPC has recommended that all college employees receive emergency response and evacuation training at least once a year, preferably during the College’s annual In-Service meetings held at the beginning of Fall semester and during the Spring semester. The College Administration also works with appropriate community emergency response agencies to test, evaluate, and upgrade the Emergency Preparedness Plan on a regular basis. When feasible, the College conducts mock emergency drills to simulate a variety of emergency events, such as domestic violence, terrorist attack, natural disaster, etc.

Calhoun Community College has two Emergency Notification systems currently in place. The primary emergency notification tool is CCC ALERT. Each student, faculty and staff member is automatically enrolled in CCC ALERT through their Calhoun SPACE (email) account. In addition, students and employees are encouraged to add additional phone numbers and/or email addresses they wish to be used for notification of emergency situations. CCC ALERT allows for both text and voice messages on cell and/or land lines, as well as email messages. In the event of an emergency of any kind, messages are sent to all CCC ALERT recipients in a matter of minutes. The system has been tested several times during the past year for weather-related closings and has performed as expected. A second emergency notification tool used by the College is a public announcement intercom system installed on both campuses. The intercoms can be activated either for individual buildings or for campus-wide messages through phone communications. The system is initiated by specified individuals appointed by the President. Pre-written scripts for those communications are provided to the appropriate individuals in order to standardize the messages and to enhance the speed and efficiency of dispersing emergency information to the Calhoun campus community.

To execute the Emergency Preparedness Plan, Calhoun Community College has a designated Crisis Management Team. The Team is the direct line of authority for making decisions, implementing policies, and disbursing information. Members of the Crisis Management Team include:

  • President
  • Vice-President for Instruction & Student Success
  • Dean for Business & Finance
  • Dean for Huntsville/Research Park (only if disaster is at the Huntsville campus)
  • Dean of Student Services
  • Assistant to the President for Public Affairs, Community Relations and Special Events (Public Relations)
  • Maintenance Supervisor
  • Local EMA Director
  • Director of Campus Police
  • Director of Admissions/Registrar
  • Director of Information Technologies

In the event of an emergency, the Crisis Management Team is automatically activated, and remains active throughout the duration of the crisis or until such time that the campus environment is safe and reasonable operations can be resumed. Under all other circumstances, only the President or his/her designee has the authority to activate the Team. In the absence of the President, the line of authority to activate the Team shall be (in descending order) as follows:

  • Vice-President for Instruction & Student Success
  • Dean for Business & Finance
  • Dean of Student Services
  • Director of Admissions/Registrar

Upon notification of an emergency, the Crisis Management Team will convene in a designated Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The following facilities have been designated as primary EOC locations:

  • Decatur Campus, Site 1: Math/Science Building – President’s Conference Room
  • Decatur Campus, Site 2: Information Technologies Conference Room
  • Huntsville/Research Park: Dean’s Conference Room

The President or his/her designee serves as the EOC Commander. The EOC Commander shall appoint an Incident Commander (IC) charged with front-line management, tactical planning and execution, determination of the need for outside assistance, and for relaying requests for internal and external assistance. The following individuals are designated Incident Commander appointees, in descending order:

  • Vice-President for Instruction & Student Success
  • Dean of Business & Finance
  • Maintenance Supervisor

To most efficiently manage the information flow regarding any emergency situation, the College’s Public Relations department serves as the Point of Contact for local media and community information requests.