Critical Functions
Critical functions are functions your unit normally performs that must continue at a sufficient level without interruption or restart within given time frames (see Levels of Criticality below) after a disruption to the service. If a critical function is not available at a sufficient level within the resumption timeframe, the campus community risks direct and immediate adverse effects in terms of: loss of life, personal injury, loss of property, and/or the University’s ability to maintain direction, control of, or accountability for instruction, research, or services essential to its mission.
The Office of Emergency Management and Planning created an example list of critical functions (see below) to help guide you through this process. This list is by no means all encompassing, but should be used as a guide.
| Department | Department Numbers | Critical Function |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Payable | 213620 | Accounts Payable |
| Athletic Director of Athletics | 270000-272305 | Athletic Events |
| Budget Control | 280000-288000 | Budget Development |
| Budget Control – Payroll | 288000 | Payroll |
| Budget Control – Procurement | 287000 | Procurement |
| Budget Planning and Analysis | 213440-216000 | Budget Development |
| Campus Health Services | 650000-650016 | Student Health Services |
| Campus Safety & Risk Management | 230000-234501 | Emergency Management |
| Carolina Dining | 224700-224792 | Dining Services |
| Central Receiving | 213620 | Central Receiving |
| Communications | 257999-259000 | Internet Web Presence (unc.edu) |
| Communications | 257999-259000 | Digital Communications |
| Communications | 257999-259000 | Strategic Communications |
| ConnectCarolina | 603000 | ConnectCarolina Data Security |
| Energy Services | 227010-230902 | Central Heating Cooling Plant |
| Energy Services | 227010-230902 | Utilities & Building Automation |
| Enrollment Management | 540000-543500 | Admissions |
| Enterprise Financial Accounting & University Controller | 213400-213429 | Financial Reporting |
| Environment, Health & Safety | 230510-235000 | EHS Services |
| Facilities Services | 240000-247302 | Central Heating Cooling Plant |
| Facilities Services | 240000-247302 | Utilities & Building Automation |
| Facilities Services | 240000-247302 | Structural Building Trades |
| Facilities Services | 240000-247302 | Facility Maintenance/Housekeeping |
| Facilities Services | 240000-247302 | Recycling & Waste Management |
| HR Records | 260109 | Personnel Records |
| Human Resources | 260100-260110 | Personnel Records |
| Human Resources | 260100-260110 | I9 & E-Verify, Background Check Process |
| Information Security | 602000 | Connect Carolina Data Security |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Connect Carolina Data Security |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Operations Center (ITS) |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Voice Communications |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | ConnectCarolina |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Alert Carolina |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Data Network |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | E-mail – Servers & Messaging |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Internet Web Presence (unc.edu) |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Enterprise Server & Storage Support |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | End user technical support & ITS Support |
| Information Technology Services | 600000-617000 | Sakai |
| IT Teaching & Learning | 606000 | Sakai |
| ITS Comm Technologies | 608000 | Voice Communications |
| ITS Connect Carolina | 603000 | ConnectCarolina |
| ITS Infrastructure | 605000 | Operations Center (ITS) |
| ITS Infrastructure | 605000 | Enterprise Server & Storage Support |
| ITS User Support & Engagement | 607000 | End user technical support & ITS Support |
| Office of Animal Care & Use | 621400 | Animal Care & Use |
| Payroll Services | 213430 | Payroll |
| Planning & Design / Construction & Engineering | 240300-247302 | Structural Building Trades |
| Procurement Services Operations | 213650 | Procurement |
| Purchasing Services | 213610 | Purchasing |
| Strategic Sourcing and Payment | 213430-213665 | Procurement |
| Strategic Sourcing and Payment | 213430-213665 | Payroll |
| Strategic Sourcing and Payment | 213430-213665 | Purchasing |
| Strategic Sourcing and Payment | 213430-213665 | Central Receiving |
| Strategic Sourcing and Payment | 213430-213665 | Accounts Payable |
| Transportation and Parking | 225000-225701 | Parking Management |
| Transportation and Parking | 225000-225701 | P2P |
| UNC One Card | 224400-224460 | One Card |
| University Cashier | 283000 | Cashier’s services |
| University Libraries | 550000-552560 | Access to digital collections |
| University Libraries | 550000-552560 | Access to physical collections researchers need / research assistance |
| University Libraries | 550000-552560 | Access to special Collections |
| University Libraries | 550000-552560 | Support for specific library procurement functions |
| University Police Department | 234001-234501 | Police Operations |
| University Police Department | 234001-234501 | Police Dispatch/Communications |
| University Registrar | 542000 | Academic Records |
| University Registrar | 542000 | Academic Calendar |
| University Registrar | 542000 | University Course Catalog |
| VC Research | 620000-621800 | Research Compliance & Development |
| Workforce Strategy, Equity, Engagement | 260000-264000 | Employee Benefits & Leave Admin |
| Workforce Strategy, Equity, Engagement | 260000-264000 | Employment & Recruiting |
- Critical 1:
- must be continued at normal or increased service load. Cannot pause. Necessary to life, health, security. (Examples: inpatient care, police services)
- Critical 2:
- must be continued if at all possible, perhaps in reduced mode. Pausing completely will have grave consequences. (Examples: provision of care to at-risk outpatients, functioning of data networks, at-risk research)
- Critical 3:
- may pause if forced to do so, but must resume in 30 days or sooner. (Examples: classroom instruction, research, payroll, student advising)
- Deferrable:
- may pause; resume when conditions permit. (Examples: elective surgery, routine building maintenance, training, marketing)
Add three to five critical functions and chose the Level of Criticality for each. Once you add a critical function you will see that critical function on the left side of the screen. Once you click on a critical function, you will see Description, Peak Periods, Documents, Dependencies, Consequences, How to Cope, and Action Items for each critical function. You must click through each of these screens for each critical function.
- Description
- Provide a description of the critical function and responsible people (if applicable).
- Peak Periods
- Please indicate any months when you would expect there to be especially high activity involved in accomplishing this function. This might be a peak workload period such as the annual fiscal closing for accounting functions, or it might denote activities that happen only at certain times – such as course-registration that happens once per academic term.
- Documents
- This is the first opportunity for you to upload documents. Please identify any documents that are very important to this function – whether they are individual documents (such as policy manuals) or sets of records (such as patient files, research files, vendor invoices, etc.). The documents listed here may be paper or electronic. Do not include records that are stored within a database application such as a financial system, an HR system, a medical records system, etc. These will be treated elsewhere. Documents uploaded via this screen are copied to a secure server for access by authorized people only. They also remain in their current location on your own computer or server. If a document is confidential or sensitive, please describe it but do not upload it. Although your plan lives on a secure server, the group of people authorized to see your plan may not all be authorized to see that document.
- Dependencies
- Upstream Dependencies are the departments (WITHIN your campus, medical center, or other institution) whose reduced functioning would seriously impair your own department’s ability to perform this Critical Function.
Downstream Dependencies are the departments that would be seriously impacted if YOUR department could not perform this Critical Function.
Please do not name IT systems as either upstream or downstream dependencies. IT systems are treated separately.
Every department code in Connect Carolina is incorporated within the drop-down list of dependencies.
- Consequences
- Suppose the function named above is not restarted quickly enough following a disaster. Which of the listed “harmful consequences” might occur?
These questions show why this function is critical.
Don’t agonize over these questions; give your best answers and move on.
- How to Cope
- The questions on this screen ask you to visualize the conditions that might prevail in the weeks or months following a disaster. You may be missing certain key resources. Please provide brief answers to these questions. Give ideas and points, not detailed procedures. If details are needed, create a separate document and upload it on the Documents screen. If your suggestions require pre-disaster preparations, that’s fine. Later, you will be asked to identify such “Action Items.”
- Action Items
- After going through the critical function screens and questions, which are geared toward getting you to think about your business processes and continuity of operations given different situations, items may come up which you realize you need to do. Here is where you create these action items, assign them to a user, and create a due date.