Everyone on campus urged to enter, update contact information
The university is rolling out AlertSU, a mass-notification system that will quickly send time-sensitive information via phone, e-mail and/or text messages to students, faculty and staff in the event of a major emergency on campus.
Staff in Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S), Information Technology Services and the Department of Public Safety are overseeing the implementation and urge all staff and faculty to update their contact information in StanfordYou at http://stanfordyou.stanford.edu. Earlier this month, Greg Boardman, vice provost for student affairs, instructed all students to confirm or provide their contact information in Axess at http://axess.stanford.edu.
In order for AlertSU to be effective, the system must have contact information for everyone on campus. The data will be loaded into the system for message-distribution purposes only and otherwise kept confidential. The university will conduct a full-scale test of the system later this month or in early May. Additional information will be sent out once a date has been set to inform all members of the campus community.
To deliver the emergency messages, the university will rely on Connect-ED—known as AlertSU on campus—a comprehensive communication system designed specifically for educational institutions. A service offered by Blackboard Connect Inc., Connect-ED will allow campus leaders and security professionals to send out thousands of time-sensitive notifications in minutes.
"As part of our comprehensive communications plan, we have added the Connect-ED service because of its successful track record and multimodal capabilities that will help us keep students and staff informed whether they are in their dorms, sitting in front of their computers or on their way to class," said Keith Perry, campus emergency manager at EH&S. "Today we are forced to prepare for situations that we never could have anticipated happening, and we recognize the important role that accurate and timely communication plays in keeping the Stanford community safe."
