.png)
"New Cell Phone" by blueoneiam; Flickr.com
As a product of what seems like a decade riddled with school violence, many colleges and universities across the nation have successfully adopted certain measures to keep their students informed in the event of an emergency. While no institution should ever have to experience the horrific events that took place at Virginia Tech in 2007, many feel better prepared to handle such a crisis, while others still remain vulnerable and exposed. Here in Denver, the Auraria campus is moving forward with a new emergency notification system to not only keep their students safe from harm, but also provide up-to-the-minute information via text and voice messaging.
As recently as the summer of 2008, the Auraria campus was placed into lock down due to a potentially armed assailant running through campus. Although the perpetrator ended up on campus during a police chase, the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) utilized a similar emergency notification system to alert students and staff. Since that occurrence, AHEC has reevaluated the efficiency of such a system and decided to move forward with a third party emergency notification provider known as Rave Wireless.
According to a recent publication set forth by the UC Denver Emergency Preparedness Office, here’s how the Rave Wireless system works. In the event of a circumstance which poses an imminent danger (flash flood, tornado, hazardous waste spill, or act of violence), the Rave system will immediately send out both text and voicemail messages to every person signed up for the service. Additionally, all three institutions on the campus will send our an email blast to their students, keep updates on their respective websites, as well as maintain recorded phone messages for an additional point of reference.
To ensure that the new emergency notification system runs efficiently, it is imperative that all students, staff, and faculty sign up for this service. There is no charge to sign up, however, it is only being offered to those associated with either the University of Colorado Denver, Metro State, or the Community College of Denver institutions. As security measures continue to remain on the forefront of higher education agenda, it is important for students and parents alike to remain up-to-date with how their institution is prepared to handle any such emergency.
Comments