A new tool has been developed to help Penn State and its employees become a little more prepared for the unexpected.
The Office of Human Resources and Information Technology Services have added a section to the Employee Self-Service Information Center (ESSIC) that seeks critical emergency information from faculty and staff members. There also will be a link on that page to the registration page for faculty and staff to register for PSUTXT, the University's text-messaging system.
The collection of emergency contact information is part of the emergency planning process developed by Penn State's Emergency Management Group.
"Penn State is collecting emergency contact information so that we can be better prepared in the event of an emergency," said Linda E. Pierce, human resources manager. "For example, if an employee should need unexpected medical attention, it would be helpful if we know whom to contact on the employee's behalf. If an emergency should occur on a campus, it might be necessary to contact employees normally located in that area."
Collecting emergency contact information from students started the beginning of this semester. The University elected to start collecting this information from faculty and staff as of Nov. 1 because the emergency contact information will be collected through ESSIC and many faculty and staff will be logging into ESSIC at https://ohr.psu.edu/essic/index.cfm starting Nov. 1 to make their Time To Choose selections.
Once employees log into ESSIC, they can connect to the emergency contact page directly either by using the Emergency Contact link in the left hand menu from the main page, or by clicking on the PERSONAL tab and then on the Emergency Contact link in the left-hand menu.
"In addition, during the Time To Choose period, you will be given the option to link to the emergency contact page once you complete your Time To Choose selections," Pierce said.
The emergency contact information will be kept confidential and accessed only if the employee encounters a personal emergency or there is a general emergency on campus.
"Adding emergency contact information is voluntary, but we hope that all faculty and staff will see the value in submitting this information and keeping it up-to-date," Pierce said.