Students and employees at Allan Hancock College will now be able to receive a warning by text message in the case of an emergency on campus.
With AlertU, a new system the college recently obtained, those who opt in to the system will be alerted by a text message on their cell phones as soon as an emergency unfolds.
The free system can be used to alert the Hancock community about any catastrophe, from severe flooding to a campus shooting.
In a time of crisis, an administrator can log on to the college’s AlertU system, write a text message or use a pre-written message, and hit “send.” At the push of a button, the text message will be sent out to everyone who signed up to receive the alerts.
“Campus security and finding new ways to help keep our students and employees safe is always a top priority,” said Hancock President José Ortiz in a prepared statement.
The alert system, college officials said, came about in response to the recent outbreak in shootings on college campuses.
In April, Seung-Hui Cho opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus, where he was a student, and killed 32 people before committing suicide.
The Virginia Tech tragedy brought to light numerous gaps in communication between the university and its campus community, and raised questions about reliable, efficient notification of students and staff during emergencies. It also grabbed the attention of the California Community Colleges chancellor’s office, the governing body of the state’s community colleges.
“The chancellor’s office, following the Virginia Tech incident, really accelerated its efforts to help the colleges have as many ways as possible to plan for emergencies and disseminate important information,” said Hancock spokeswoman Rebecca Alarcio.
Thus, the agency paired up with Waterfall Mobile – the providers of AlertU – and, with money from a Homeland Security Grant, set out to bring the notification system to California’s community colleges free of charge.
Raising the issue of campus violence again just a week ago, graduate student Steven Kazmierczak fatally shot five other people and killed himself on the Northern Illinois University campus. Hancock officials said Hancock is one of the first community colleges to take up the chancellor’s office on its offer.
“Over the last year or so we’ve been trying to find ways on campus to improve our communications,” said Hancock Police Chief Ken George. The chancellor’s office “told us (AlertU) was available, and we jumped on it.”
The system will be reserved solely for emergencies, so it does not turn into the equivalent of “crying wolf,” George said.
By Wednesday, about 100 people had signed up for the alerts, according to a Waterfall Mobile representative. Because the college has just signed up for the system, the exact number isn’t certain.
Several students said Wednesday that AlertU was a good idea.
“It’s a good start to address an issue (campus violence) that has been plaguing colleges across the nation,” said student Julie Mascorro, who was sitting in a campus eatery and chatting with a table of friends.
Though this was a step in the right direction, administrators need to take even more actions to keep students safe, she added.
Abi Vera was passing by the student store on her way to class.
As she was walking, she had her phone out, and was text-messaging some friends. Though she hadn’t heard of the new alert system, Vera said she would sign up for it. She also compared it to a non-emergency phone notification system already in place, in which students receive an automated voicemail notifying them of campus events.
AlertU “is communication, that’s what it is,” said Vera.
To sign up for alerts, students and staff can text “AHC” to 253788 (ALERTU), and reply “Y.”
Sign-ups are also available on the Internet at www.alertu.org/ahc. While the service is free, standard text-messaging rates apply.
For more information call Ken George at 922-6966.
Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santa
mariatimes.com.
February 21, 2008
