Campus creates emergency response office

Northwest Missouri 6605621843
Mike Ceperley

Northwest Missouri State University has reorganized its existing safety and emergency response personnel into a single administrative unit.

Heading the new office, officially created with the beginning of a new fiscal year on July 1, is Mike Ceperley, a former Northwest Police Department lieutenant whose new title is emergency management coordinator.

Joining Ceperley on the three-person safety and emergency management team are Scott Walk, Northwest’s longtime environmental health and safety technician, and Redempta Kegode, another Northwest veteran who formerly served as a chemical safety manager and adjunct instructor for the Department of Natural Sciences.

Under the new arrangement, Ceperley, Kegode and Walk will all have pretty much the jobs they had before, except for working out of the same suite on the first floor of the Administration Building under the auspices of Northwest’s Office of Human Resources.

Ceperley has run the university’s emergency management operation for the past several years, but as a member of the campus police force reporting to Chief Clarence Green. Likewise, Walk was part of Northwest’s Facility Services operation and Kegode was primarily associated with lab safety efforts in the Garrett-Strong Science building.

Putting all three functions under Human Resources makes sense, Ceperley said, since staff — and student — training related to safety procedures and equipment is an important part of the job description for each of the three positions.

Ceperley, for example, was the primary organizer of this spring’s large-scale “mass shooter” field simulation, which involved numerous Northwest students and staff in addition to around 10 first-responder and law enforcement agencies ranging from the FBI to local police and area sheriff’s offices.

Other personnel-related functions carried out by the office include compliance with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. The unit, in the person of Walk, also plays a role in making sure proper safety procedures are followed during campus construction and remodeling projects.

In addition, Walk is charged with inspection and testing of all fire suppression and alarm systems on campus and oversight of environmental requirements, including the management, handling and disposal of hazardous waste, asbestos and various chemicals.

Kegode will continue overseeing science laboratory safety and training, a role that includes responsibility for ensuring the proper inventory of chemicals and implementation of biological safety processes.

With 22 years in law enforcement — 11 as a Maryville Public Safety officer and 11 at Northwest — Ceperley has long experience managing emergencies of all sorts.

In his new role, he will be Northwest’s go-to manager in any crisis or disaster, whether natural or caused by human actions.

In addition to supervising preparedness and emergency training campuswide, Ceperley will also be a key member of Northwest’s Major Crisis Management Team, a group consisting of senior Northwest administrators that convenes in times of emergency in order to determine appropriate institutional responses.

While embracing his expanded role, Ceperley said he is nevertheless going to miss putting on a uniform every day and serving as a campus police officer.

“That’s a bit part of who I am, so it’s going to be a transition,” he said. “They are super people, and the officers are just incredible. They’re on the cutting edge of law enforcement, and it’s been a privilege to work with each and every one of them.”

But things change, and Ceperley said he’s very pleased to be working with Kegode and Walk and is eager to help strengthen their efforts to make Northwest safer and more prepared.

“Scott has 20 years in health and safety, and I think Redempta has 10 years,” he said. “There is a lot of experience there. So it will be great for me to work with them and learn from them.”