Eastern Michigan University has initiated an emergency text messaging system for all students, faculty and staff.
"This is a critical tool for any campus in the event of an emergency," said Don Loppnow, provost and executive vice president for EMU. "We hope to never have to use this alert system, but it is nice to know that it is in place in case the need arises."
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FIRST ALERT: Jill Cusumano,
an EMU sophomore from
Riverview, checks for text
messages on her cell phone.
Eastern Michigan University
recently initiated an
emergency text messaging
system for all students, faculty
and staff. |
"I strongly encourage our entire campus community to sign up for this system," said Greg O'Dell, executive director of EMU's Department of Public Safety. "This is a basic system that will work well if people sign up to use it."
Anyone interested in receiving emergency messages can sign up at http://www.emich.edu/alerts/
There is no charge from the University, but individual phone carriers may assess a charge to users based on individual text messaging plans.
According to O'Dell, in the event of an emergency on campus, a short message would be sent via text message to everyone who registers his or her cell phone with the University. Users also can choose to have the emergency alerts sent to their e-mail.
"I can't stress enough that this is a system that students, faculty and staff should sign up for," O'Dell said.
The emergency text system is being provided by RAVE Wireless for a one-year period.
