Universities in Texas Aligning for Emergency Management Through TVUG

From a young age, we learn that there is strength in numbers. It’s always easier to tackle a big school project with the help of friends. And even though this mantra takes on a new meaning as we get older, at its roots, it still rings true. Our challenges just grow in size, so help is always appreciated.

Through all of this, the key to success is to come together as a community and support each other in times of crisis. One stellar team from Texas is a shining example of what this looks like. The UT Dallas Emergency Management team has demonstrated what it means to support your neighbors.

UT Dallas came together with Texas Woman’s University over their shared use of Veoci, our leading emergency management software platform. The two groups collaborated over their processes and UT Dallas was eventually able to come to the aid of TWU during multiple emergency situations. 

UT Dallas Recognized 

Because of its efforts responding to incidents at Texas Woman’s University, UT Dallas has been chosen to receive the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) Regional Service Excellence Award. The University’s response included the use of Veoci, its new incident management software. 

The NCTCOG Regional Service Excellence Award is awarded “in recognition of extraordinary participation and efforts that go above and beyond regular duties in helping build strong and effective regional emergency preparedness capacity.” It has been four years since an institute of higher education has been the recipient of this award. 

The UT Dallas Emergency Management team members certainly went “beyond their regular duties” during the spring and summer of 2019 when they helped TWU with responses ranging from tornadoes to power outages. UT Dallas activated within TWU’s Veoci platform and began categorizing information in a way that would help support timely decision making during the response. 

Partnership is Key

The partnership between these two universities promotes preparedness on a larger scale. They support each other in times of need with resources, knowledge, and kindness. That’s a type of bond that only strengthens during an emergency.

This relationship began long before they both started using Veoci. Once they started using the platform, they engaged with each other and other higher education Veoci customers in North Texas to collaborate in Veoci and share best practices. This group evolved to include all Texas higher ed customers to form the TVUG (Texas Veoci Users Group) . 

Veoci Admins from these groups used TVUG to share Forms, Workflows, and Plans, and they used the patented communication tools—complete with Dashboards, chat, email, and SMS—to keep in touch about how the implementation of the software was going, especially during activations. 

This is how Texas Woman’s University ended up reaching out to UT Dallas. They called on their friends and colleagues in their time of need, and they knew UT Dallas could be counted on for support. This collaboration established in the cyber domain extended to the real world. 

Strength in Numbers 

TVUG has become an example of the power we can have in emergency situations when we join together and work as a united front. We are stronger when we combine resources and knowledge, and open our lines of communication.

The UT Dallas Emergency Management Team members deserve recognition, but I’m sure that’s not why they helped Texas Woman’s University. They identified a friend in need, and responded in a time of crisis. That is what partnership is all about. 

It’s stellar to see this kind of partnership within the Veoci community. As more and more organizations take on Veoci for their emergency and daily operations, we’re excited to see more of these relationships develop, and the true benefit they provide to people these amazing professionals serve.