Emergency Notification Systems and emergency communication

On Friday, the Chronicle featured an article (Emergency Alerts via Facebook and MySpace are New Ways to Reach Students, 8/22/08) on how some campuses are looking for ways to use Facebook (FB) and MySpace as tools for transmitting emergency information. On the surface, this seems like a good idea. It would seem that almost every student nowadays is plugged into FB or MySpace, and young twenty-somethings are increasingly finding news about people, friends, and family with the social networking sites (myself being no exception).

The following summary is from http://oja.wi.gov/section.asp?linkid=1147&locid=97:

The Governor's Task Force on Campus Safety is focused on ensuring the safety of college campuses across Wisconsin. At the direction of Governor Jim Doyle, the Task Force is reviewing and compiling criteria for developing best practices from universities, colleges, and other higher education institutions in Wisconsin and across the nation. This information will be submitted to the governor and will serve as a resource for college administrators, law enforcement officers, and emergency preparedness officials.

The Task Force delivered an Interim Report to Governor Doyle on August 15. A final report will be published on November 1st.   

The College of William and Mary is the latest Virginia institution to formalize its plans for an emergency notification system supported by a vendor. The college selected NTI’s Connect-ED® service to provide rapid communication to the campus community.

According to a campus press release:

Each of the College’s students, faculty or staff members can store up to six contact numbers and two e-mail addresses. During an emergency, designated members of the College’s Emergency Response Team will be able to access the system – remotely by phone or from their computer – and issue an alert simultaneously to the entire campus community. The system has the capacity to send voice messages to recipients’ landlines, cell phones and e-mail addresses and to send text messages to their cell phones, email addresses, TTY/TDD devices for the hearing impaired and other text receiving devices.

Virginia Tech has announced its selection today of 3n (National Notification Network) as its choice for a new emergency notification system. The University of Miami also announced on May 22nd the purchase of the 3n InstaCom system to automate emergency communications with their students, faculty, and staff. "The new emergency notification system, along with existing communications vehicles long used by the university, will form the basis of “VT Alerts,” a fully integrated and coordinated emergency communications program maintained by Virginia Tech’s Office of University Relations," according to a Virginia Tech press release issued today.

More excerpts from the press release:

Webcast archives are now available [click here] from the "2007 National Campus Security Summit: Practical Measures for Campus Security" held at the University of Central Oklahoma on May 30, 2007.

The 2007 National Campus Security Summit brought together leading experts to explore and evaluate critical issues facing decision makers in higher education and offer practical measures for Campus Security. While recognizing that funds are always limited and that campuses cannot become fortified installations, the Summit delivered actionable steps and best practices to apply to university situations.

According to Roger Webb, President of the University of Central Oklahoma, "Campus administrators must review and revise their security procedures, their technology and communication measures, their budget commitments and perhaps most importantly, their training and awareness programs."

For more information, visit the Summit homepage.

In response to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, President George W. Bush directed the secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education along with the Attorney General to meet with educators, mental health experts, law enforcement and state and local officials to discus the broader issues raised by this tragedy.  In their “Report to the President,” they conclude, “The Virginia Tech tragedy and similar violent events that have occurred in recent years . . . make us ask whether the complex balancing of fundamental interest in our communities – interests of protecting privacy and civil liberties, ensuring that our communities are safe, and helping people get the care they need – is appropriately calibrated.”  The report contained several recommendations relevant to emergency planning, preparedness, and notifications:

In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, colleges and universities across the country are reviewing their emergency preparedness plans and evaluating their ability to quickly notify constituents in crisis situations. Networked technologies (posting notices on Web sites, e-mailing information, and sending text messages to cell phones) are among the most promising solutions. As campuses explore options for their emergency communication plan, they must also consider infrastructure and policy and procedural components.

In this free May 3 EDUCAUSE Live! Web seminar, Emergency Notification Systems for a Mobile Community, Rodney J. Petersen, Government Relations Officer and Security Task Force Coordinator, EDUCAUSE, and Mark Katsouros, Director, Telecommunication and Network Services, The University of Iowa, will provide an overview of the strategies for emergency notifications of students, employees, and visitors, as well as a context and resources for campus emergency preparedness planning.