The Department of Public Safety, in conjunction with the Emergency Management Committee, is getting closer to significantly updating the campus Emergency Management System. Following the selection process highlighted in the spring semester, the company Connect-ED was chosen to enable the emergency contact of members of the campus community via voicemail and text message.
This service is intended to complement the existing tools that keep the campus community informed: e-mails, posted notices, the Public Safety website, and their campus phone number. There is also an emergency website, currently under development, which will provide instructions and updated information to the campus. According to Director of Public Safety, Jerry Matthews, “The focus right now is to have a multi-tiered emergency notification system in place [as] being able to communicate with the community is paramount.”
Matthews also said that the next step is to select a vendor to create an audible alert to be heard outdoors around campus in case of an emergency. This alert would consist of a siren coupled with voice messages providing evacuation or other such instructions. This system would rely on multiple speakers set up in select locations across campus in order to get the most audible coverage.
While Matthews stated that they have narrowed down the selection to three vendors, he expects that the Connect-ED system will be up and running prior to the audible alert system. Nevertheless, he says that both systems should be implemented sometime this fall.
According to Matthews, the effectiveness of the Connect-ED system depends on the willingness of the campus community to provide a number at which they could be contacted. This information can be provided through SIS under RPIAlert in the Personal Information section. “I would encourage everyone in the Rensselaer community to sign on and log in their information,” he said.
In addition to reaching out the existing campus community, Matthews gave a talk at every Student Orientation Session this summer, speaking to parents and incoming freshmen about the new system. As a result, 86 percent of the incoming freshmen have already provided an emergency contact number.
There are numerous campuses across the country that use an emergency contact system. According to Matthews, one of the reasons why Connect-ED was chosen was because it services over 100 schools across the country, including Princeton University, University of Notre Dame and Brandeis University. In a trip to Northwestern University and Notre Dame, Matthews and several of the Institute’s vice presidents saw Connect-ED’s system in operation.
In the end, Matthews hopes that a multi-layered system of communication will reach a greater combination of students, staff, and faculty, with those who aren’t reached by one system being helped by another, whether it’s through text message, voice message, audible alerts, or even word of mouth.
