Is your campus primed for the next big emergency? The National Campus Safety and Security Project (NCSSP), led by NACUBO, sought to help colleges and universities develop comprehensive emergency management plans that address the four phases of emergency management: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. A major component of the project was site visits to learn how different types of higher education institutions address campus safety and security. Six institutions were selected for study based on best practices and a diversity of approaches to an array of safety and security issues. A team of professionals representing business and finance, legal counsel, emergency management, and risk management toured each campus and collected detailed information through on-site interviews. Presented in this book for the first time, these case studies offer valuable insights on safety and security practices that can be adapted for other institutions that are grappling with many of the same issues. Institutions may compare their own emergency plans with best practices employed by others, and learn how these institutions are developing and maintaining emergency preparedness plans; articulating a network of communications strategies; ensuring support through mutual aid agreements; training and testing emergency procedures in conjunction with local and state agencies; and creating business continuity plans. "Ready to Respond" also considers other recent studies on campus safety and security, and features results from the project's survey of more than 300 higher education institutions on their emergency preparedness programs. Together with the detailed case study program descriptions, this data offers readers substantive guidance on assessing and strengthening their security and safety efforts. The book's conclusion synthesizes all of this information to propose key steps every higher education institution needs to consider in developing an emergency preparedness program. Appended are: (1) Additional Resources; (2) National Campus Safety and Security Project Survey; and (3) Glossary of Terms.