Kuali Ready is a business continuity planning tool that is specific to institutions of higher education. Its aim is to increase the institution's ability to keep operating in the face of disruptive events. Kuali Ready produces departmental continuity plans, and can be used by any type of department - instructional, research, support, administrative, collections, and clinical.

Business

The "business" of higher education is teaching, research, and public service. In some cases (medical centers & health sciences schools) the "business" also includes patient care. For higher education, these four functions are the “business” in business continuity planning.

Departmental Focus

The Kuali Ready tool produces departmental continuity plans, and can be used by any type of department – instructional, research, support, administrative, collections (libraries, museums) and clinical.

The Product

The departmental continuity plan can be printed as a document and contains –

  • Prioritized list of the department’s critical functions, with details of each
  • Specific section on continuity of IT
  • Specific section on continuity of instruction (if applicable)
  • Lists of 10 types of key resources, with details
  • Repository of key documents
  • High-level recovery strategies for all functions
  • Action items to achieve a better state of readiness. These action items embody the central premise of continuity planning: that the most effective way to cope with disaster is to get ready ahead of time – by putting in place NOW the information, processes & resources that we will need THEN.

All-Hazards

The tool uses an all-hazards approach. This means that it aims to increase the organization’s readiness for all types & sizes of disaster events –

  • Natural disasters (regional earthquake, fire in your offices, infectious disease epidemic, unexpected death of a key employee, etc.)
  • Technological disasters (data loss, connectivity loss, equipment failure, etc.)
  • Human-caused disasters (terrorism, theft, civil disturbance, cyber attack, etc.)

Accepted Methodology

The Kuali Ready tool uses the accepted methodology of the business continuity planning profession. The core of Kuali Ready’s uniqueness is that it adapts this methodology (developed in the corporate sector) to the circumstances & culture of higher education.

    Resources

    Structure of the Tool

    • Focused at the department level - Since business continuity planning is operational-level planning, it must focus on departments. Kuali Ready tool is a departmental continuity plan.

     

    • Do-it-yourself - Campuses contain hundreds of departments, the planning process must be self-operated. The Kuali Ready tool contains all the information & guidance needed for its use.

     

    • Easy to use, no training required - Users must be able to pick up the tool and use it. The tool is a straightforward questionnaire with clear guidance text and intuitive navigation.

     

    • Lean content, clear purpose - The tool stimulates departmental preparedness. It collects only that data that is essential to its purpose. It avoids overly-detailed recovery strategies (more on this below). Tool is lean and do-able.

     

    • Final outcome: a campus-level continuity plan - The department-level plans identify both action items that can be accomplished by the department, and action items that belong to higher levels of the institution. These higher-level action items, taken together, comprise a powerfully-focused campus continuity plan.