USC has made preparations to enable key services and programs to resume rapidly following a major emergency, thereby ensuring continuity of the university's overall mission of teaching, research and community service.

In the event of a mid-level emergency, such as a campus-wide power outage, the objective is a return to normal operations within hours. In the event of a major emergency, such as a civil disturbance or moderate earthquake involving significant damage, the objective is to restore essential programs within one to three days. In the event of a large-scale disaster, the objective is to ensure that essential programs are reestablished as soon as possible.

Physical Plant

The university has a contract with Belfor, Inc., the largest disaster cleanup, repair and reconstruction firm in the world.

Teaching

USC committed to maintaining teaching even in the event that normal classes are disrupted due to a major emergency. If some buildings must be closed, we will announce substitute locations. If travel to campus is difficult, we will use electronic teaching methods such as Blackboard (an online learning tool), conference calls and other distance-education technologies that enable faculty to teach and students to participate in classes from alternate locations. For more about USC's plans to continue instruction in an emergency, click here.

Data

USC has a contract with Sungard to provide an out-of-state back-up "hot site" for critical university information systems in the event of a disaster.