UMD’s Tried and True Text Alerts

Shortly after the Virginia Tech mass shooting, the University of Maryland adopted a text message emergency alert system. Nearly three years after its deployment, Campus Safety checks in with the school to see how the technology has fared.

Published: October 31, 2009Author: Robin Hattersley

U. of Maryland Works Hard to Gain Student Trust
Despite the overall success of RSAN, when the system was first deployed, many students were worried it would send them non-emergency messages and general crime alerts. Gruber and school officials were able to soothe the students’ fears through PR, newspaper interviews and Web site information postings.

“We assured them that the ones that aren’t dynamic, life threatening and happening now would only be sent over the E-mail in a timely fashion,” he says. “They need to understand that they will only get a message if something very bad is happening, and they need to take some action.”

What’s an Emergency?

“We deem emergencies as anything that is dynamic and life threatening,” says Maj. Jay Gruber who is the commander of the technology services bureau for the University of Maryland, College Park’s department of public safety. “If a student was robbed at 3 a.m., we’re not se
nding that text message out. We’ll send it out via E-mail to make sure we hit all of the Clery standards, but it’s not a dynamic, life threatening emergency.”

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The campus has only issued two real emergency text messages since 2007. One was regarding an armed car jacking that had just occurred, and the other was for tornados near the campus. The school also uses the system to let students know about early campus closures, late openings and school being closed.

“If we keep people off the road or get them out of here quickly before bad weather hits, we’re going to potentially save lives,” says Gruber.

Emergency Alert Best Practices

Maj. Jay Gruber, commander of the technology services bureau for the University of Maryland, College Park’s department of public safety, recommends the following when deploying a text message notification system:

Campuses should test their mass notification systems more than once a semester. “You want to make sure everything is working properly and give people a monthly reminder that they need to take responsibility for their own safety and security.”
Let students know early on that the systems will only be used for dynamic, life threatening emergencies. Be certain to obtain support for this approach from campus administrators.
Don’t send spam. It turns people off.
Use the opt-out rather than the opt-in approach to register users.
Because 25-30 percent of the student population turns over every year, a campus must continually market the system and encourage people to register.
Work closely with campus IT personnel and student registration personnel.
White list so messages will not be blocked by spam filters (usually done by the vendor).