Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and Emergency Preparedness

Colleges and universities around the country, ever more mindful of campus safety, are installing outdoor sirens. The systems can blast spoken messages or tone alerts of danger—and one of the preset messages on many of the public-address systems warns: "There is a shooter on campus. Seek shelter immediately."

(Wally) Czerniak was attending a conference in Arizona where he was learning, among other things, about emergency-notification systems that can send text messages to cellphones - a method that a growing number of colleges have set up since the shootings last spring at Virginia Tech. But Mr. Czerniak still isn't sure whether such a system would have done much good in keeping people on campus updated as the crisis unfolded if it had been in place at Northern Illinois.

"Students arriving on campus this semester are getting a new task added to their to-do lists: Log onto "Who I Am" and provide emergency contact information.

The new service is the latest upgrade to Cornell's ongoing emergency planning effort. Since the late 1990s, well before 9/11 and recent U.S. campus shootings, Cornell has had a team of officials and responders dedicated to planning for events most people don't want to think about."

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 annual Campus Computing Survey focuses on IT security and crisis management, finding gaps in preparation but fewer attacks on networks.

"Delaware State University made all the headlines on September 21 when a freshman shot and wounded two students on campus, one seriously. An arrest and an apology later, the 18-year-old charged with the crime sits behind bars. But months after Virginia Tech, the incident sparked comparisons in both the nature of the shootings and the effectiveness of the response."

The events of April 16, 2007 and the response, investigation, and recovery at Virginia Tech that followed placed extraordinary demands on telecommunications network resources and university Information Technology professionals. This report provides a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the communications infrastructure and information systems used during this time period. It addresses resources depended upon by emergency responders, investigating law enforcement officers, university officials, media, faculty, staff, students, and families of the university community. It includes information about communications resources owned and operated by the University and relevant resources owned and operated by providers and responders.

he University of Maryland University College and Sloan-C recently held a workshop on academic continuity and emergency management at UMUC on June 27, 2007. Click on the link below to access a brief report which describes the workshop. Includes preliminary findings, general conclusions, recommendations, agenda, and participant list.

Backup tapes, hot sites, annual tests -- the elements of yesterday's disaster recovery planning may lead to a dead end today. Do you know where your applications are?

This is the report on the Virginia Tech shooting by a review panel appointed by the governor of Virginia.

The report covers the following topics, physical security, privacy laws, mental health of students, and emergency response.