It is essential that the traditional emergency management structure be used as a framework for higher education emergency planning. The four phases of emergency management should be reflected in the architecture of all planning efforts. These include "preparedness," "response," "mitigation," and "recovery." All of the phases overlap, are continuous, and affect the others. This represents the strategic view of the "emergency planner" as opposed to the individual first responder, known for having specialized and highly technical expertise. A key deficiency today is many local colleges and universities' lack of emergency planning expertise. Hurricane Katrina and, tragically, recent events at Virginia Tech make it clear that every campus must be prepared for a number of contingencies. In this article, the authors talk about strategic approaches to emergency planning. Emergency preparedness at the higher education level must take an "all hazards" approach; it must include preparedness for any contingency.