The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Academic Engagement (OAE) supports the DHS mission by building, improving and leveraging relationships with the academic community.

Through this ongoing series, read how OAE actively engages with the academic community in the United States and leads initiatives related to international students, among other key focus areas.

The National Seminar and Tabletop Exercise (NTTX) Series, a joint initiative of DHS OAE and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will host its 2017 event on Oct. 10 and 11 at the University of Utah. This series of campus-based events provide participants with insight into planning, preparedness and resilience best practices for the academic community.

The two-day NTTX event will include workshop sessions, a tabletop exercise and an after-action review session on preparing participants to respond to a campus emergency. This year’s event will focus on a failure in campus infrastructure caused by cyberattack. This important topic will train campus staff to be more resilient in the face of rising threats to vital campus components and utilities.

Last year’s NTTX event took place at the University of Illinois at Chicago and focused on campus violence and active shooter events across the U.S. higher education community. More than 375 participants from 90 colleges and universities across 29 states and the District of Columbia registered for the event.

Because emergency planning involves a team of individuals from across an institution, DHS OAE and FEMA recommend that three to five senior leaders representing various functions (e.g., leadership, campus utilities, public safety, student life and communications) attend from each school.

You can find more information about the NTTX series, including the 2017 event, on the NTTX website. If you have any questions regarding the 2017 NTTX, send them to AcademicEngagement@hq.dhs.gov.