March 05, 2009
St. John's University to Host Second
Annual Emergency Conference Highlighting Study Abroad Initiatives
for Colleges and Universities
St. John’s University is proud to host the Study Abroad and
Emergency Preparedness Conference on Thursday, March 12 at the
school’s Queens Campus. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. in the School of Law’s Belson Moot Court Room. A registration
fee of $50 is required and includes a continental breakfast and
lunch.
The one-day seminar, a follow-up to St. John’s successful Urban
Hazards Forum IV: Campus Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Conference of a year ago, will afford colleges and universities an
opportunity to examine best practices and to collaborate with
colleagues regarding the ever increasing number of their students
studying abroad.
There are over 200,000 American students studying abroad and the
number is projected to increase in the next decade to over 500,000.
With this ever increasing number of American students studying
abroad, St. John’s is committed to expanding our emergency
preparedness protocols to provide a safe learning experience for
our students studying overseas and to serve as a forum to examine
emergency management protocols.
Colleges and universities throughout the nation are expected, in
this day and age, to establish Emergency Preparedness protocols for
their study abroad programs that are well integrated into their
institution’s overall risk assessment and Emergency Preparedness
planning.
“We have had a great response of early registrants for this
year’s emergency conference,” said Gerard A. McEnerney, Assistant
Vice President and Executive Director – Staten Island Campus &
University Emergency Management. “It is increasingly
important that institutions of higher education address the safety
needs of their students not only on their campuses but as they are
sent to study in cities around the World.”
Highlights of the conference include how to integrate Study
Abroad programs and student-athlete travel, and the challenges that
athletic departments, academicians and emergency response
professionals face as they better organize their Emergency
Preparedness planning.
A schedule of confirmed presenters for the conference
includes:
- Thomas J. Fargione, NY State Emergency Management Office -
Deputy Director for Response “Creating a Viable Emergency
Management Plan”
- John Rendeiro, International SOS - Vice President Global
Security and Intelligence - “Reviewing Your Emergency Response
Capabilities and Options”
- Bernard Tolbert, National Basketball Association- Sr. Vice
President, NBA - “American Athletes Abroad”
- Elena Carrington, United States Department of State; Overseas
Security Advisory Counsel (OSAC) - “How Students Make Attractive
Targets: Crisis Management”
- Yolanda Parra, United States Department of State, Consulate
Affairs - American Citizen’s Services Officer - “What if Something
Happens?”
- Daniel T. Dunn, American Red Cross in Greater NY- Director,
Disaster Staffing & Partner Groups - “The American Red Cross
International Disaster Response Team”
The conference also provides an informative and educational
opportunity to interact and ask questions of the expert panelists
during the day-long presentation format.
To register online visit the conference web site at www.stjohns.edu/campus/publicsafety/conference.stj.
Space is limited.
Interested media representatives can contact Dominic Scianna,
Assistant Vice President for Media Relations at St. John’s
University by calling (718) 990-6185 or e-mail inquiries to sciannad@stjohns.edu. News
and information regarding St. John’s can be found by visiting the
University web site at www.stjohns.edu/news.