Text alert system in the works
The University of Nevada, Reno Police Department plans to launch a text message alert system later this month. The system will be used as an extra notification tool for emergency situations, UNRPD Commander Todd Renwick said.
Faculty, students and their parents can signup for the messages at unr.edu/alerts once registration becomes available. Renwick said he encourages people to check the site to stay updated about sign-up information.
The text message system will not replace other notifications, like e-mail, but will add another layer of communication in the case of emergencies or campus closure, Renwick said.
A few days after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, an individual threatened about shooting on the UNR campus and UNRPD cancelled classes.
The department went to classes and the residence halls to give the warning, but Renwick said a text message alert would have reached more people more quickly.
Steven Zink, vice president of information technology, said the new system will cost UNRPD about $12,000 a year to maintain.
Renwick said those who sign up for the text message system are responsible for changing their phone number when necessary. He said the university plans on advertising sign-ups at freshmen orientation, registration events and online.
Although several students said they would sign up for the system, some said they were concerned about receiving spam messages.
“I would sign up for it as long as I never got anything besides real emergency text messages,” Lucas Baxter, a 22-year-old junior, said. “I would want to know if something serious is going on.”
University officials said they signed a contract with the notification product, so contact information would not be distributed or used for anything other than alert messages.
Zink said his department is still working to build the database, which should be ready soon.
“It’s pretty effective,” Zink said. “The biggest problem, of course, is human error.”
Zink said about 500 higher education institutions use the system, but many have problems getting people to sign up.
At Louisiana State University last year, only 10 percent of the population was notified about an on-campus double murder through a text message, although 50 percent signed up for the alert, Zink said.
When the database sent students a confirmation link after they registered, 40 percent didn’t verify it, causing the discrepancy, he said.
Zink said the university plans to advertise the sign-ups and verification aspect in order to combat that problem at UNR.
Hope Townswell, an 18-year-old freshman, doesn’t have text messaging on her cell phone because her parents won’t allow it, she said, but she thinks the program is a good idea for the university as most students text.
Other than students failing to sign up for the alerts, Zink and Renwick said they don’t foresee any problems with the notification system.
“It just adds another component to the overall planning for emergency situations and being prepared,” Renwick said. “It’s just having another output to notify the community.”
In another attempt to improve campus safety, 25 emergency blue light phones were installed on campus. Students can press the emergency button to place a call to police dispatch.
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