2008 Woodie Awards
SectionsText message for safety on campus
New security measures part of task force report
Sarah Khan
Issue date: 1/18/08 Section: News
|
This new system is expected to take place within the next two months of the spring semester, Director of Telecommunications Tim Kilpatrick said.
The services of 3N, the mass notification company that has contracted with Missouri State, does come at a cost, but will not be unloaded on students.
"The university has centrally funded this system, so there should be no additional fee being charged to students as a result," Kilpatrick said.
The notification service is a small part of a plan enacted by the Emergency Response Task Force, which was formed in large part due to tragedies like that at Virginia Tech.
"This system will provide instant notification of incidents on campus and in the surrounding area and will allow the university to provide ongoing status updates in any such situation," Kilpatrick said.
If a student's phone does not receive text messages, there are other alternatives to this form of notification.
"There will be many different contact methods, including those most popular with students such as phone calls, PDAs, BlackBerry devices, e-mail and online instant messaging," Kilpatrick said.
Though the university currently has a policy requiring students to turn off their cell phones in the classroom, the Faculty Senate plans to discuss how it conflicts with the new notification system.
"If there are inconsistencies in university policy and classroom policy, it is our job to make them consistent again," Faculty Senate Chair Tom Kane said. "Nothing has been formally sent to us yet regarding classroom cell phone policy, but should be coming soon."
A similar system recently failed in an emergency situation at Louisiana State University, and the Emergency Response Task Force aims to see that prevented here.
"Once the 3N system is installed we will test the system to make sure everything is configured and working properly," Kilpatrick said. "We will probably test the system each semester."
The host-based notification system is expected to be up and running before the end of spring semester this year. It will be completely voluntary and on a sign-up basis.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Foreign born Patriot
Foreign Born Patriot
posted 1/19/08 @ 7:59 PM CST
And I thought that this was going to be a good year! A couple of questions, and I'm sure I'm going to have the only comment again on this subject. If this is a "volunteer" program then what if not every body volunteers and there is an emergency situation? How will the problem be resolved without any loss of life? What about those who are in an area where there is no cell phone reception, either in or out? Probably that's where it is going to happen anyways. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 1/20/08 @ 2:27 PM CST
What safety measures would you suggest?
Foreign Born Patriot
posted 1/21/08 @ 9:23 PM CST
Dear Anonymous: come to student Senate tomorrow and find out!
Post a Comment