When the living dead rise from the grave, Doug Johnson will be ready for them.
He wants UF students to be ready too.
Last week, Johnson posted a zombie attack plan for UF students and faculty on the e-Learning Support Services Web site.
The plan was removed from the LSS site Thursday afternoon.
"I was told by my boss, very nicely, that it should be taken down," Johnson said. "UF is searching for a new Chief Information Officer (CIO) and it was felt that the plan would hamper the seriousness of the search, which is a very valid reason for removal."
The question of disciplinary action toward Johnson for posting the plan has been brought up by others outside of UF, but Johnson denies that those claims exist.
"Nobody has even said anything about disciplinary action," he said. "It's not even on the table."
A manager of Learning Support Services (LSS), Johnson said he came up with the plan while awake late at night. He named it Zombie Attack Disaster Preparedness Simulation Exercise #5.
"I have a chronic problem with insomnia," he said. "I was up in the wee hours in the morning and how the idea of a zombie disaster plan came up I have no idea."
Johnson's job at LSS, along with the team he manages, is to come up with various disaster scenarios and exercises to better prepare UF employees and students should the need emerge.
"Disaster preparedness is something I take seriously," he said. "It is important to keep the UF system up and running, and we try to run disaster plan exercises every year."
Johnson went on to describe that while the plan instilled levity and humor to his team, it led to a very valuable discussion about scenarios in which employees should keep away from campus due to obstruction or danger, such as during and after a hurricane.
