Members of the Y2K Transition Team will be on campus to provide support and respond to emergencies for 92 consecutive hours during the Year 2000 rollover weekend.
The Transition Team will be on duty at the Business Continuity Management Team (BCMT) command post in Building 28 from noon onFriday, Dec. 31 to 8am on Tuesday, Jan. 4. The Transition Team's mandate is to coordinate protection of faculty, students and staff, minimize property loss, maintain research projects and restore MIT services if they are affected.
Gerald Isaacson of Information Systems, the team leader, said major concerns include the possibility of a power brownout, the loss of chillers or heat or process controls that could result in the destruction of a research project, and/or an explosion, fire or release of hazardous material.
"These exposures are not very different from those we might encounter during a normal four-day weekend in January," said Mr. Isaacson, who is also the team leader of the BCMT. "The difference is that a number of them might occur at the same time."
The Transition Team will coordinate and allocate resources and activate contingency plans, if necessary. Mr. Isaacson urged departments and laboratories to update their emergency action plans and to make sure the Transition Team knows whom to contact in case of emergency. To facilitate this, a drive to bring "Green Cards" up to date will begin shortly.
Mr. Isaacson said information regarding emergencies would be available from newspapers, radio and TV, by phone and on the MIT homepage, and in postings on campus.
The Transition Team includes representatives from 23 departments and offices, including Campus Police, Information Systems, Residential Life, the Safety Office, Department of Facilities and the News Office.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 6, 1999.
