The Catholic University of America is fully prepared to respond to catastrophic events. The University will mitigate the impact of crisis situations and operational disruptions and has policies, systems, and procedures in place that provide for the continuity of operations in cases of a catastrophic event. The goal is to minimize the length of time that students’ educational activities are disrupted and, when applicable, minimize the length of time that students, faculty, and staff are displaced.

Any events that are disruptive are prospectively examined for lessons learned and any necessary improvements are implemented. The University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation efforts is just one example.

Operational Systems

To reduce the risk of attacks and data exposure the Technology Department’s security team has implemented several security enhancements, including awareness campaigns, reporting procedures, and alert systems, all aligned with industry best practices.

The University’s Technology Services Department ensures that backups of central production data exist in the event of system failure. Technology Services identifies, configures and upgrades enterprise backup hardware, software and media to accomplish these backups. Technology Services provides for emergency operation of key production software systems in an alternate data center. Technology Services ensures that key data is regularly migrated off campus. These procedures and systems prevent record destruction and/or data loss.

Procedures and Relevant Policies

The following procedures and policies are also intended to help mitigate the impact of disruptive events on University operations:

• Student Records – The University maintains its academic records in secure environments and has adequate measures in place to protect student records in the event of a disruptive event or closure.
• Refund Policies (Refund of Student Charges Policy, Student Accounts Refund Policy, Home State Refund Policies): provide guidance for ensuring that financial refunds are processed timely and consistently in accordance with University policy, and applicable federal, state, and accreditation requirements.
• Emergency Operations Plan: provides emergency instructions for faculty, staff, and students to ensure the safety and protection of individuals and property during emergencies. The University also has procedures for conducting financial transactions during an emergency.
• Epidemic, Pandemic, and Community Health Requirements Policy: provides the University President with the ability to quickly and unilaterally initiate certain community health measures to respond to a public health emergency related to a transmittable disease, epidemic, and/or pandemic that may affect the health and safety of persons associated with the University.
• CUAlert – Powered by Rave Mobile Safety: In the event of an emergency at Catholic University, quickly reaching our community with important information and updates is one of our top priorities. That's why we have CUAlert, an emergency notification system powered by Rave Mobile Safety. All Catholic University students, staff, and associates are automatically enrolled in CUAlert.

Program Disruptions or Discontinuances

In the unlikely event that the University cannot deliver the instruction for which students have enrolled, the University commits to one or more of the following courses of action, depending on each individual student’s needs:

• Providing a reasonable alternative for delivering instruction and/or services for which students have paid
• Providing a reasonable financial refund for the education students did not receive
• Providing assistance for transferring earned credits to other institutions

The University also has a teach-out provision committing the University to make every effort to protect the rights of students in the event a School, Department, or Program that is to be terminated, in order to bring work already begun to its normal completion. Faculty Handbook, II-H-7.240.