Campus crisis systems on table

[pmp6nl]

Campus crisis systems on table
The Forum
Published Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Campus shootings across the nation have focused attention locally on how to get timely messages to students during a crisis.

On Thursday, the North Dakota Board of Higher Education will consider a new emergency notification system for the state’s 11 campuses.

The proposal is to implement by this fall a system that can send mass text and voice messages to cell phones of students and employees.

If approved, North Dakota State University plans to begin implementing the system this summer, said NDSU Police Lt. Bill Vandal.

The system would be used in a situation that imposes an immediate threat.

“We don’t want to cry wolf,” Vandal said. “We want to send it out in the event of a known emergency.”

Meanwhile, Minnesota State University Moorhead will do a full test in about a month of its new notification system, said Security Director Michael Parks.

MSUM has contracted with a company called e2campus that will allow people to receive instant text or voice messages, e-mails and Web alerts. It will cost about $6,000 a year, Parks said.

“We have to look at the best way to get our message out in a timely manner, which is so critical,” Parks said.

Concordia College is not going in the text message direction and is instead investigating a campuswide PA system, said spokesman Roger Degerman.

“There’s still a lot of debate on the ultimate effectiveness of that strategy,” Degerman said. “Cell phones are only good if they’re with you and they’re turned on.”

The North Dakota proposal board members will consider on Thursday includes a requirement that faculty have a method of being reached if they tell students to turn off their cell phones.

The new MSUM system has several ways to get the message out so it reaches people if their computers or phones are off, Parks said.

Concordia has an emergency Web page ready to replace its current site in the event of an emergency, similar to what Northern Illinois University used to get information out following last week’s shooting.

The Moorhead campus of Minnesota State Community and Technical College has a campuswide intercom system and recently added prerecorded messages, said Provost Jerry Migler.

“We can get messages out almost instantaneously,” Migler said.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system also is working on a pilot project that MSCTC could adopt, Migler said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Amy Dalrymple at (701) 241-5590

I have read some articles in the Chronicle about the effectiveness of text messaging and phone calls and what not and some good points about their effectiveness have been brought up, especially because they are typically opt-in.  So would you sign up for something like this?

I think besides this other security things really need to be looked into, relying only on this or primarily on this just wont cut it in my decision.

[tetsujin]

We have been informed on our campus that this will be implimented into ConnectND as of next semester. It is an opt-in situation, but you can not register for classes until you decide if you want to use it or not. And from how it sounds it's going to be a big YOU WANT THIS button, and a little tiny "no thank you" link. Either way, it sounds like we are at least getting it at VCSU.

Cameron

[Sal Atticum]

That sounds like it will hit the rest of us as well.

It's weird how a school can just assume that everyone has a phone now.  Maybe I'm just old, but that absolutely blows my mind.  I'd rather have some sort of on campus signal, like a different version of a tornado siren or a bat signal or something in addition to getting a text message.  I just think it's dumb to put all of your eggs in one basket.

That being said, it's a sad world that we live in if we have to be this afraid of something happening.

[tetsujin]

Well, how it sounds with this system they are not putting all their eggs in one basket, you have to give at least 5 different ways to get a hold of you...

Cameron

[Sal Atticum]

But you have to be around your electronic devices for it to work.  I know it's what everyone does, but I'm not going to have anything on me if I'm out playing frisbee or something and a mad gunman is running wild across the campus.  I think technology is great, but you're still relying on technology the whole time.  What's the emergency action plan if the network is down when something like this happens?  What if the power is out and someone goes nuts?  I'm just curious what would happen in those types of situations. 

I'm not particularly worried about something like this happening (nobody really should be, but things do happen), but if they are going to dump money into alerting everyone, I think it should be a plan that involves multiple methods of communication.

[pmp6nl]

I agree that it is of utmost importance to rely on multiple methods for alerting students.  From what I have been reading text messaging is not very effective.

I think text messaging coupled with phone calls, emails, and other alert systems would be the best we could do.  I do like the idea of a tornado like siren, one that all students on campus could hear (of course it would have to be loud to hear indoors).

I know at NDSU a group is working on these things and I am providing my input... not to mention my undergraduate degree in emergency management gives me a little bit of an opinion.

I do like the bat signal idea.