Students are now able to receive campus emergency alert text messages on their cell phones thanks to a new system provided by the JSC Public Safety Office.
The new system allows students with text messaging to receive an immediate notification of power outage, snowstorm, fire, or any other event that could lead to a school closing.
Director of Public Safety Michael Palagonia is encouraging students to take advantage of the text messaging. “The benefits are that we will be able to reach people who we normally couldn’t reach,” he said; “people who are on their way to school, outside of the classroom, or away from their desk or phone.”
Fatal shooting incidents at Virginia Tech and more recently at Northern Illinois University have highlighted the need for better communication during emergencies, and according to Palagonia, this new alert system is just another way to enhance safety for the JSC community.
Prior to the recent development of text messaging, Public Safety had relied on traditional means to alert the campus of emergency events. These included email and flyers posted around campus—neither of which can guarantee immediate notification.
For students who don’t have cell phones, the same traditional means of notification are being used for campus alerts. Emails are still sent to everyone’s JSC website. “The emails will most likely have more information in them, since we’re limited to only 122 characters in the text messages,” Palagonia said. “This is just another means of communicating.”
Students can sign up for the service through the JSC website. Students are also able to choose what they would and would not like to be notified for.
Public Safety doesn’t charge anything for the text messages; the cost is the same for receiving any text messages with the phone services provided for different cell phones.
“I really want to encourage people to sign up for the service,” Palagonia said. “The numbers won’t be used as a way to contact people individually, we aren’t going to sell the numbers, and no one will be receiving spam. This is solely for emergencies.”