Instructions for Building Coordinators

Communicating with building occupants

Building coordinators can easily send emails to all occupants within their building via their building distribution list within Outlook. To access the distribution list, click on the “To” field within an email and scroll to your building name, then select the distribution list that says “Building Occupants – [Building Name]”. Flyers on building entrances are also an effective way to communicate with occupants.

Managing public areas

Public areas include lobbies, bathrooms, elevators and hallways that are publicly accessible when the building is open. Building coordinators should ensure that events and displays in these areas are appropriate and do not impede or obstruct the normal functions and accessibility of the building. For instance, offensive or outdated material should be removed from these areas, as should overt advertisements for off-campus goods and services. Coordinators should use their best judgment to determine what is appropriate. The Office of Human Resources and the Office of Inclusion can be used as a resource for any questions.

Lost and found

Building coordinators should designate a person in their building responsible for handling lost and found items. When items in a building are found, this designee should send an email to the building occupants distribution list with a description of the item and instructions for claiming it. In accordance with Lost and Found procedures (PDF), the designee should also complete and submit a Found Property Report (PDF) in accordance with the lost and found procedures linked below. Designees should instruct individuals who have lost an item to complete and submit a Lost Property Report (PDF).

Maintenance & Accessibility

Building coordinators should keep an eye out for maintenance in public areas and report them via the online maintenance request system, which is available for both PC users and Mac users. Coordinators can direct occupants to submit their own maintenance requests via the system. Requests that are larger in scope and not listed in the online system should be made by contacting Facilities Work Control at x4-2481 or workcontrol AT_TOWSON. Work Control will accept all requests regardless of type.

Accessibility issues such as broken elevators, blocked doorways, broken power door operators and broken handicapped-accessible toilet stalls should be reported immediately by calling Work Control at x4-2481. Special notice should be given if a planned access disruption will affect building accessibility for disabled persons. If possible, building coordinators should ensure alternate access for disabled persons during all access interruptions.

Emergency requests such as floods, safety issues, persons trapped in elevators, etc. should be reported immediately by calling Facilities Work Control at x4-2481.

Emergency Preparedness

Building Coordinators should work closely with the Office of Public Safety (OPS) and building occupants to develop and implement the Building Emergency Plan (BEP), communicate the location of campus automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and serve as an information resource in the instance of emergency.

The BEP guides occupants to respond appropriately in emergency situations; OPS will consult with building coordinators to update it on an annual basis. As part of that process, building coordinators may need to solicit feedback from occupants. Coordinators must distribute electronic versions of the updated plans to occupants twice a year—at which time it also makes sense to share the locations of campus AEDs. Building coordinators should also keep hard copies of the BEP available for review.

If an emergency occurs on campus during duty hours, building coordinators should maintain their personal safety (like any other building occupant) by following the processes listed in the Emergency Resources Guide (PDF). If it is safe to do so, coordinators are asked to provide building information to emergency personnel to aid in their response. Assuming it is safe, coordinators should also help communicate information between emergency personnel and building occupants.

Building access

Building coordinators should work with the Office of Public Safety to specific access requests based on building functions and occupant needs. Access problems such as broken locks or card readers should be reported to Access Control immediately at x4-5310. For key requests, lost keys or other key concerns, coordinators should refer occupants to their departmental key coordinator (PDF).

Radio usage

Each building coordinator is assigned a radio that they should have on hand whenever in the building. When leaving the building during the workday, the radio should be left with the designated back-up. At night, it should be turned off and kept in a secure area.

Building coordinators should only communicate over the designated frequency. If there are problems with a radio, or if the radio breaks or needs new batteries, contact TUPD Sergeant Shannon Cotton at x4-2446.

Radio Instructions

How to use the radio

• Ensure the radio is set to Channel 1
• Depress and hold the push to talk button while stating your radio call sign followed by “Towson”. For example: “Cook Library to Towson”
•  Release the push to talk button to hear the acknowledgement
• After you have been acknowledged, you may speak your brief message
• To speak again, depress and hold the push to talk button and repeat the cycle
• If you have an emergency, state “Cook Library emergency to Towson emergency” adding the word “emergency” to the end of your transmission

Radio speech

The Towson University Police Department has adopted plain speech radio communications. The use of codes is being eliminated though the common acknowledgement of 10-4 persists. As new radio users you may hear the use of “10-4” from Towson. This is a synonym for “OK” or “Message Received”

It is important that your radio message to “Towson” be brief; however, it may not sacrifice valuable information in favor of brevity. When calling “Towson” for an urgent emergency, please be sure that you state the word emergency at the end of your initial call.

Example:

• Caller:   “Cook Library Emergency to Towson Emergency”
• Towson: “Cook Library, go ahead”
• Caller: “We need an ambulance for a person having a seizure at the entrance to the garage”
• Towson: “10-4, we will dispatch police and medical to your location”
• (The caller should continue to monitor the radio for additional instruction from Towson)

What to expect

It is essential that the dispatcher obtains certain information prior to dispatching the responders. In order for the proper assets to be deployed in an emergency, police dispatchers will ask a series of pertinent questions related to the specific incident. Please give them your full cooperation. They are highly trained professionals who will assess the information received to deploy the proper number and type of responders to best mitigate the emergency.

Space Allocation

Building coordinators should work with individuals scheduling events on campus to accommodate meetings and events, and to manage and negotiate scheduling conflicts. To help with this, building coordinators have access to a private calendar that displays all scheduled events within the master events calendar system (R25). Coordinators should monitor the calendar to stay aware of planned events. If there is a scheduling conflict, coordinators should notify involved parties of the conflict and work to reschedule or relocate the event.

Event and Conference Services staff typically manage the large gathering rooms on campus, Enrollment Services staff typically schedule classrooms, and administrative assistants typically schedule meeting rooms. That said, all campus space is the shared property of the university and should be used as such—neither departments nor individuals “own” rooms.

Back-Ups and Delegation of Tasks

Each building coordinator must select a back-up coordinator to oversee general duties in his or her absence. They may also delegate some tasks to an assistant, including scheduling rooms, reporting maintenance or accessibility problems, communicating with building occupants and coordinating key distribution. Larger tasks, such as creating and implementing the building emergency plan, should not be delegated.

The building coordinator is ultimately accountable for all of the building coordinator responsibilities, and should provide the back-up or assistant with the necessary training and information to fulfill any delegated tasks.