Jeffery Blanton has been named ETSU’s assistant vice president for administration and director of emergency management.
Blanton previously worked with the FBI, and he developed a strong relationship with the ETSU community through that position. An ETSU faculty member worked on a task force for Blanton as well, so, when a position opened up at ETSU, Blanton was quick to apply.
“It was a pretty easy decision,” said Blanton.
Blanton retired from the FBI at the end of December 2020, and began working for ETSU in January.
The new position was created by ETSU Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Ross. The position comes with dual responsibilities, so Blanton has an intimidating learning curve. However, he has already established short- and long-term goals.
“In the short term, I think that communication is going to be an extremely important issue,” said Blanton. “That’s what we’re going to have to concentrate on.”
For example, Blanton would like to work on amending the verbiage in emergency notifications to remove ambiguity. He also spoke of the ongoing development of a new safety app for the ETSU community that will debut next spring.
Long-term, Blanton wants to improve training for faculty and staff in emergency preparedness. On the administration side, Blanton will help alleviate a lot of Ross’s responsibilities.
“Having a team in place to give him, say, another person to talk things through with is going to be less of a burden on him,” said Blanton.
The pandemic has lowered the number of staff on campus, and while less people often equal less problems, there is also a down side to having fewer eyes on campus. Blanton advised ETSU students, faculty and staff to watch out for one another.
“If you see something unusual, please do let us know,” said Blanton. “There’s nothing too small or too criminal to report. Public safety does not mind getting called.”
A lower student population also tends to lead to more relaxed behavior. Blanton cautioned students to remember to be mindful. A few things students can do to stay vigilant involve making sure outside doors to housing buildings are not left propped open, being aware when construction is ongoing nearby and being mindful going to and from cars.
“We just ask people to be diligent, to look around,” said Blanton.
Blanton said the best way to share information is through word of mouth to help keep the ETSU community as safe as possible.
