USC's Crisis Management Team - convened by the senior vice president for administration and including representatives from the offices of the provost, emergency planning, public safety, student affairs, public relations, information technology services, auxiliary services and facilities management as well as the campus research community and other relevant units - meets twice a year to review and update policies and plans related to emergency notification, response, resources and recovery.

In the event of a major emergency, the Emergency Policy Group, consisting of the university president, the provost, senior vice presidents and other university officers, provides the overall direction for policy and communications.

The Emergency Operations Group - including the offices of career and protective services, facilities management, student affairs, auxiliary services, public relations, information technology services and others - is the on-the-ground team convened to immediately secure the safety of USC students, faculty staff and visitors; to determine the nature and extent of damage; to coordinate with deans and vice presidents; and to implement the communications plan with university stakeholders.

The University of Southern Calfornia complies with National Incident Management System (NIMS) standards in all of its emergency-planning efforts.