The University is preparing to launch a new system that will keep students and staff on campus safer this winter.
The University will begin collecting student cell phone numbers this fall and will work with a local vendor to develop and implement several new components to an emergency notification system, including a text message and outdoor audio alert system.
The University hopes to have the text message emergency notification system up and running by the start of 2009, said Krista Dillon, the University’s emergency planner and response coordinator.
“We would collect the students’ phone numbers in the fall, then test to make sure the system is working properly,” Dillon said.
The text message alert program will then record how many students receive the test page. “This will give us an idea of how well it will work,” Dillon said.
Students will have the opportunity to provide their cell phone numbers for the text message alert system this fall on DuckWeb. Dillon said that when students log in to DuckWeb, a pop-up window will appear, asking them to provide their cell phone numbers for the new alert system, though participation is optional for all students and staff.
“The text message warning system is great because it only takes one student in a class to get the message, then all the students are alerted,” said ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz.
Dillon is still developing the policies and procedures that University officials will follow when using the new system.
An addendum to the existing Emergency Operations Plan will outline who has the authority and when it is appropriate to use the various methods of emergency notification. It is expected to be completed by fall term.
“This is a great system to have, but we hope we’ll never have to use it,” Dotters-Katz said.
The ASUO will begin outreach this fall to educate students about the importance of participating in the text message alert system by providing their numbers.
One of Dotters-Katz’s main campaign promises last spring was to push to bring the text message alert system to campus. He said that it is important to have several different ways of notifying the campus of an emergency.
Dillon said she hopes the University will also begin upgrading the carillon bells on the roof of the EMU this fall to enable a mass, outdoor audio alert in the case of a large scale emergency on campus.
Oregon University System is offering a similar text message alert system to Oregon universities next fall. However, the University chose to work with local officials to save money and increase efficiency.
The University is working with Intrado, a national company that “has pioneered improvements to the 9-1-1 network, helping to enhance the quality of emergency response in the United States,” according to its website.
Intrado is also contracted to provide the 9-1-1 service in Lane County, which University spokesperson Phil Weiler said will be very beneficial because emergency responders from the county and on campus will have the same notification system.
“The system that we are looking at works with local Lane County authorities,” Dillon said. “That made this very attractive.”
Working with Intrado will enable the University to install a “reverse 9-1-1” system that would call land-line telephones in a specific geographic location in the event of a smaller scale emergency, for example a problem in a specific building, Weiler said.
Dillon said the University began developing a general emergency notification system in fall of last year.
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