General Description
Policy Summary:
The Business Continuity (BC) Program supports a resilient university by ensuring effective planning,
implementation, and activation of continuity plans to address risks and threats to infrastructure,
resources, and campus services. The program aims to minimize operational, financial, and reputational
impacts while maintaining the University’s ability to deliver essential services and ensuring a clear
pathway back to normal operations.
Its primary goal is to reduce downtime, mitigate risk, and enable the rapid recovery of critical functions
through coordinated, collaborative, and strategic planning efforts.
implementation, and activation of continuity plans to address risks and threats to infrastructure,
resources, and campus services. The program aims to minimize operational, financial, and reputational
impacts while maintaining the University’s ability to deliver essential services and ensuring a clear
pathway back to normal operations.
Its primary goal is to reduce downtime, mitigate risk, and enable the rapid recovery of critical functions
through coordinated, collaborative, and strategic planning efforts.
Purpose:
The purpose of this policy is to outline the rules and responsibilities for departments in the
development, maintenance, activation, and execution of business continuity plans to ensure
organizational resilience during emergencies or significant business disruptions.
development, maintenance, activation, and execution of business continuity plans to ensure
organizational resilience during emergencies or significant business disruptions.
Scope:
University Departments/Directors
Exceptions:
None.
Policy Content
Trinity University is committed to ensuring the continuity of its academic, administrative, and operational functions during unexpected disruptions. Our Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program, managed by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), coordinates strategies to minimize the impact of events such as natural disasters, cyber incidents, or other emergencies. The University is dedicated to maintaining a safe, resilient, and responsive environment for our students, faculty, and staff.
Business continuity planning is a critical function of the University aimed at fostering and maintaining a state of disaster resiliency. OEM leads the development and implementation of a university-wide BCM Program to ensure essential services can continue, or resume quickly, during and after significant business disruptions.
OEM has established a business continuity framework centered on departmental planning. This framework is developed in consultation with each Vice President (VP) and based on their respective organizational structures and mission-critical services. The architecture of this program is reviewed and updated annually to incorporate organizational changes and ensure its ongoing relevance.
To support the BCM Program, the University utilizes TU Ready, a business continuity planning software maintained by OEM. Departments identified by their respective VPs as essential to campus operations are required to use TU Ready to develop and document their continuity plans.
Continuity plans must address, but are not limited to, the following elements:
Major departments, as identified by Vice Presidents in consultation with Emergency Management, are required to comply with this policy and update their BC plans annually. Departments who do not have a BC plan, but are being requested to develop one, should reach out to the Office of Emergency Management at 210-999-8375.
OEM has established a business continuity framework centered on departmental planning. This framework is developed in consultation with each Vice President (VP) and based on their respective organizational structures and mission-critical services. The architecture of this program is reviewed and updated annually to incorporate organizational changes and ensure its ongoing relevance.
To support the BCM Program, the University utilizes TU Ready, a business continuity planning software maintained by OEM. Departments identified by their respective VPs as essential to campus operations are required to use TU Ready to develop and document their continuity plans.
Continuity plans must address, but are not limited to, the following elements:
- Identification of Critical Functions: Define essential departmental functions and services that must be sustained or restored during a significant disruption.
- Communication Plans: Develop and maintain call trees for employees and key stakeholders to ensure timely and accurate communication during an incident.
- Recovery Strategies: Outline both short- and long-term strategies for the recovery and continuation of critical functions.
- Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs): Establish RTOs for each essential service based on acceptable downtimes and the University’s risk tolerance.
- Key Documents and Resources: Identify essential documents and resources needed during an emergency, including contracts, policies, procedures, and financial records.
- Work Location Planning: Define work location strategies (e.g., on-campus, remote, hybrid) that support continuity of operations.
- Technology Requirements: Identify critical IT systems, applications, data, and infrastructure required for departmental operations.
- Academic Continuity: Address plans for maintaining instructional delivery and academic services during disruptions.
Major departments, as identified by Vice Presidents in consultation with Emergency Management, are required to comply with this policy and update their BC plans annually. Departments who do not have a BC plan, but are being requested to develop one, should reach out to the Office of Emergency Management at 210-999-8375.
Departments identified by their respective Vice Presidents (VPs) as requiring a Business Continuity (BC) Plan must designate a BC Plan Manager. This individual is responsible for leading continuity planning within their department. Responsibilities include:
- Leading the development, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of the department’s BC Plan using the TU Ready platform.
- Attending the annual Business Continuity Program meeting/training hosted by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM).
- Completing an annual review and update of the department’s BC Plan in alignment with the University’s BCM review cycle.
- Coordinating with departmental leadership to obtain internal approval of the BC Plan.
- Submitting the updated BC Plan to OEM for final review and approval.
The Office of Emergency Management provides leadership, coordination, and support for the University’s Business Continuity Management Program. Responsibilities include:
For questions or support, please contact the Office of Emergency Management at 210-999-8375.
- Developing, maintaining, and overseeing the institution-wide Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program.
- Administering and maintaining TU Ready, the University’s central platform for departmental continuity plans.
- Hosting an annual BC Plan Manager Meeting and Training session to support ongoing planning efforts and ensure program consistency.
- Providing guidance and coaching to departments during plan development, updates, and implementation.
- Coordinating and facilitating testing and validation of BC Plans through exercises such as tabletop scenarios.
- Promoting the annual BCM review and update cycle, typically conducted each summer.
For questions or support, please contact the Office of Emergency Management at 210-999-8375.
Terms & Definitions
Terms and Definitions:
|
Term: |
Definition: |
|---|---|
| Business Continuity (BC) orBusiness ContinuityManagement Program(BCM) |
Business Continuity is the process and capability of an organization to ensure that critical business functions continue to operate or are quickly resumed during and after a disruption, such as emergencies, disasters, or other significant events, thereby minimizing operational, financial, and reputational impacts. Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program is a comprehensive, organization-wide framework designed to identify potential risks and threats, develop strategies and plans to maintain or quickly restore critical operations during disruptions, and ensure resilience through ongoing planning, training, testing, and continuous improvement. |
| Business Continuity Plan(BCP) | Business Continuity Plan (BC Plan) is a documented strategy that outlines a department’s (and the University’s) essential and critical functions, procedures, and information. It is maintained in a state of readiness for activation during an emergency incident or significant business disruption, enabling the department (or University) to continue delivering its mission-essential functions and services at an acceptable predefined level. |
| Recovery Time Objective (RTO) |
A RTO is a |
| TU Ready Software | The Trinity University business continuity software, powered by the Kuali Ready platform. Access and licensing is maintained by the Office of Emergency Management. |
|
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Revision Management
Revision History Log:
|
Revision #: |
Date: |
Recorded By: |
|---|---|---|
| v2.0 | 7/17/2025 3:39 PM | Pamela Mota |
| v1.1 | 7/1/2025 11:31 AM | Pamela Mota |
| v1.0 | 8/9/2019 3:17 PM | Jennifer Gilmore Adamo |
Vice President Approval:
|
Name: |
Title: |
|---|---|
| Mark Detterick | Vice President for Finance and Administration |