AU, the University of Maryland at College Park, and other colleges across the country have begun the new academic year by debuting the use of new technologies, including social networking sites like Facebook and text messaging alerts, to notify students of emergencies on campus.
UMD is one of the first schools to utilize Facebook to send emergency alerts and updates on campus.
Maj. Jay Gruber of UMD's Department of Public Safety started the "Emergency Awareness at University of Maryland" Facebook group recently, which lists weekly emergency awareness tips and can update the group's wall immediately with alerts via his Blackberry.
AU Public Safety Chief Michael McNair said AU would consider using Facebook as well.
"AU will use whatever means are available and practical to alert students about emergencies," he said.
Gruber said he thought of using Facebook for emergency alerts because it is one of the main ways students communicate in college.
"I thought Facebook was a pretty good idea because students don't get information the same way people in the past used to get it," he said. "They aren't watching TV as much or listening to commercial radio."
McNair said that AU Public Safety focuses on a multi-modal system, including e-mail and text message alerts and voicemails on students' cell phones and would also include social networking sites to expand the emergency alert system.
"We are looking at any kind of methodology to ensure that we can reach the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time. If one system is unavailable, another may be available," McNair said.
Both AU and UMD initiated a text message alert system in the spring of 2007 following the Virginia Tech shootings to implement a better system of notifying students immediately about emergencies on campus.
AU students said that Facebook could be a useful way to relay information since students check it regularly.
"I think it would be effective because the current mass e-mails that they send probably are not even opened by students," said Julie Munroe, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. "In general, Facebook is the kind of thing that you can't really ignore, with most students checking it multiple times an hour."
However, other AU students say that text alerts would be a more immediate way to distribute emergency alerts.
"I think the text alerts would be pretty effective because everyone always has their cell phones on them," said Dana Korsen, a junior in the School of Communication.
McNair said one of the newest additions to the campus emergency alert system is AU Campus Connect, which is a program that is more than just a text messaging system. He said it would allow students to notify Public Safety during an emergency, will allow Public Safety to see the location of a student in distress and will allow students to track movements of the AU shuttle buses in real time. Students can get more information about the program at www.getrave.com.
Public Safety is looking at installing other forms of emergency alerts on campus, such as audible alarm boxes and phones in classrooms, McNair said.
However, he said the problem is that implementing these new devices is very expensive since many of the buildings would need numerous alarm devices. In addition to audible alarms, McNair said there would be some sort of visual addition to the alarm for people who are deaf.
You can reach this staff writer at rkern@theeagleonline.com.
