Coleman Building Emergency Power Shutdown – Part 2

On Friday, March 14, 2025, an upgrade to Coleman building will require the temporary loss of power to the emergency outlets in the building (i.e., the red back-up power outlets). During this time, equipment connected to these outlets will lose power for approximately 30 minutes. Personnel utilizing in the Coleman building are responsible for protecting critical equipment and research specimens powered by these outlets by following the instructions below.

• In accordance with university requirements, all freezers containing critical research specimens that are to be insured by the university must be listed on the Critical Freezer Inventory maintained by the Office of Research Safety Affairs. The equipment description and estimated value of the contents must be accurate.  Instructions and additional information are provided in the Critical Freezer Guidelines.
• Review and, if necessary, update your contingency plan for freezers on the Critical Freezer Inventory. This plan prescribes actions to be taken in case of a service disruption to your freezer(s). Having such a contingency plan is a requirement for freezers listed on the Critical Freezer Inventory. A proposed template has been provided in the Critical Freezer Guidelines.
• It is recommended that you examine your critical equipment serviced by emergency power outlets. Contact the Facilities department electrical shop supervisor, Shawn Miller, by emailing jmill113@uthsc.edu to coordinate a time when a member of his team can inspect alternative non-emergency outlets that can be used to power your equipment. Shawn or a member of his team will ensure the availability of sufficient current to that outlet so we can avoid tripping the circuit and causing a power outage. Once an appropriate non-emergency outlet has been identified, connect your critical equipment to be powered by this non-emergency outlet. Observe your equipment to ensure that it restarts properly. Equipment should remain plugged into this non-emergency outlet until after the scheduled shutdown on Monday.
• On Friday, March 14, 2025, at the time of the pre-scheduled interruption of power to the emergency outlets do the following:
  • Assign personnel to monitor any equipment that remains plugged into backup power. At the time of the shutdown, it is this person’s responsibility to confirm that each piece of equipment re-energizes after the shutdown is completed and power is restored.
  • If the circuit has not re-energized at the end of the scheduled shutdown period, the assigned personnel must notify Facilities immediately of any outlets that do not re-energize. Notify Facilities by emailing the electrical shop supervisor, Shawn Miller, at jmill113@uthsc.edu.
  • Personnel assigned responsibility for critical equipment must be prepared to implement the contingency plan for the equipment impacted by the service disruption. This may include relocating the contents to another operational freezer.

The shutdown schedule for the morning of Friday, March 14 is as follows:

Please direct any questions about the upcoming work on the Coleman building to Edwin Jeffres, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities, by emailing ejeffres@uthsc.edu. Contact Tim Barton, Director of Research Safety Affairs with questions about the requirement of the critical freezer inventory program.