VCU Alert seeks to defuse campus disasters

School shooting are a reality. In the last year, the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois shootings have taken the lives of 39 people, most of them college students.

To help prevent such a tragedy on its campus, Virginia Commonwealth University has implement the Emergency Alert System, also known as VCU Alert.  The system is designed to give student the information they need to know to stay safe in life threatening situations. The system utilizes different modes of communication in order to reach the greatest number of people:

Sirens

With sirens located on both campuses, for most students, the sound will be the first sign that something is wrong. Assistant Director of VCU Technology Services Sam Kennedy says that this is the most effective device for a number of reasons.

“It reaches probably the greatest number of folks immediately,” says Kennedy. “That’s the thing, it’s immediate… It kicks off the trigger in the back of your head that goes sirens are going off, I need to do something.”

Texting

This method utilizes students’ cell phones to spread the alert. Students must go online and register their phones to receive these text. Then in an emergency situation, students would receive a message telling them what type of emergency is going on and what they should do in response.  There are at least 15 thousand people signed up to receive the messages so far.

Digital signage

This is the newest element in the VCU Alert system. New digital flat screen televisions are spread around both campuses and are located in highly visible areas. In non-emergency situations, these screens wil present school announcements or advertisments. In an emergency, the screens will immediately display a warning advising sudents what to do.

Word of mouth

In the end, the student is the most important piece of the puzzle. They are the ones that spread the message, be it through email, telphone calls or Facebook.

Kennedy says, ” Those students get that text message and then they’re going and telling their friends. The whole thing of they tell two friends then they tell two friends and that’s really what you want to get.”

Tell us what you think about VCU Alert. Do you think it is effective? Do you feel safe here at VCU?”