Spring Break
New emergency alert system utilizes cell text messages
Students, faculty and staff can sign up for this alert service
Anneke Tucker
Issue date: 10/16/08 Section: News
Oregon State and the Oregon University System have a new situation in mind that would, in one instant, set every cell phone in the vicinity ringing in the event of a campus emergency.
With the help of Blackboard ConnectED, an emergency alert system, Oregon State and four other universities in Oregon have implemented a system to let students know what is going on around campus in the case of an emergency.
"Within seven minutes, all students, faculty and staff who are entered in the system will have been alerted," said Jack Rogers, director of public safety on campus. After the shooting incident at Virginia Tech last year, many colleges and universities around the nation have been looking for ways to keep their students safe.
"Prior to using Blackboard ConnectED, OSU had developed nine generic emergency messages for the entire university, regarding inclement weather, shootings, chemical spills and more," Rogers said.
The only problem was that these messages could only be received through campus phones and e-mail. The difficulty was in reaching the students who had already arrived or were en route to campus.
The Oregon State campus is considered to be extremely safe, with a public safety department and state police located directly on campus with a three- to five-minute response time. But they realized it was imperative to find a way to get people out of dangerous situations and keep them out of the area.
The emergency alert system, through text messages, e-mail, phones and cell phones, was the answer.
The OSU Department of Public Safety and campus officials count on the system to work well. In a practice situation, Rogers recalls having five of his six methods of communication that he had entered into the system with him on his desk.
"Right at two o'clock, as we had planned, everything started going off at once. About thirty seconds later, my wife called saying we had gotten a phone call at home from the emergency alert service," Rogers said.
With the help of Blackboard ConnectED, an emergency alert system, Oregon State and four other universities in Oregon have implemented a system to let students know what is going on around campus in the case of an emergency.
"Within seven minutes, all students, faculty and staff who are entered in the system will have been alerted," said Jack Rogers, director of public safety on campus. After the shooting incident at Virginia Tech last year, many colleges and universities around the nation have been looking for ways to keep their students safe.
"Prior to using Blackboard ConnectED, OSU had developed nine generic emergency messages for the entire university, regarding inclement weather, shootings, chemical spills and more," Rogers said.
The only problem was that these messages could only be received through campus phones and e-mail. The difficulty was in reaching the students who had already arrived or were en route to campus.
The Oregon State campus is considered to be extremely safe, with a public safety department and state police located directly on campus with a three- to five-minute response time. But they realized it was imperative to find a way to get people out of dangerous situations and keep them out of the area.
The emergency alert system, through text messages, e-mail, phones and cell phones, was the answer.
The OSU Department of Public Safety and campus officials count on the system to work well. In a practice situation, Rogers recalls having five of his six methods of communication that he had entered into the system with him on his desk.
"Right at two o'clock, as we had planned, everything started going off at once. About thirty seconds later, my wife called saying we had gotten a phone call at home from the emergency alert service," Rogers said.
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