Spring Break
The Daily OrangeLook who's texting now
VT massacre accelerates Public Safety's plan to notify students of emergencies through cell phones
By Dara Kahn
Posted: 9/13/07, 10:12 PM EST Section: News
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has been transformed since the massacre there April 16, 2007.
Sarah Kia, a sophomore architecture student at Virginia Tech, said the university has become more tense and restrictive since April. Students now need to swipe identification cards to get into all the residence halls - a constant reminder of what happened four months ago Sunday.
Another change was the implementation of a crisis alert system primarily through text messaging, soon after April. But for many, it is just one more change for the campus community.
"I think it solves whatever paranoia is there. Maybe it will make people feel better," Kia said in a phone interview. "But it isn't a top priority for many students. I didn't even know what it was until news reporters started asking us."
For schools nationwide, crisis alert systems, primarily through text messaging, have become a necessity in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Syracuse University is no exception.
By spring semester, a crisis alert system is expected to be up and running at SU, according to the Department of Public Safety and information technology staff, though some worry it may be misused.
"We use the term 'catastrophic crisis,'" said DPS Chief Tony Callisto. "It would have to rise to that level before we send out a message."
Callisto used the example of an active shooter on campus.
Such a system would enable Public Safety staff to communicate with the entire SU community in the event of an emergency through text messages, voice responses, e-mail and other media. It would cost SU more than $100,000 annually, said Paul Gandel, vice president of information technology and chief information officer at SU.
From trial to truth
Well before the Virginia Tech incident, IT staff at SU had already been using a text message alert system called e2Campus for internal emergencies, such as network failures.
"If the network goes down, we need to get multiple people involved immediately," Gandel said. "It could be useful to use for SU in emergencies as a whole."
But for use as a crisis alert system campus-wide at SU, this program had limitations, said Ron Kurdziel, director of telecommunications.
"What about students who are visually impaired?" he said. "It would be nice to be able to ring them."
So immediately after the Virginia Tech incident, at the chancellor's request, the process to find such a program for SU began.
Kurdziel created a list of 85 companies that had contacted his office or that he and members of his staff had found. After some preliminary research and ruling out companies that were primarily business-oriented, Kurdziel narrowed the list to about 20 companies.
Along with a committee of Public Safety, media relations, human relations, telecommunications, residence life and IT staff, Kurdziel was able to narrow the list down to six companies, and finally down to three main contenders. This was done using questionnaires, participating in Web-based seminars and conducting lengthy telephone conversations with company representatives.
Though SU has not yet chosen a specific company, Kurdziel said there's "one we're focusing on."
The notification process will be similar, regardless of which company gets the nod.
"The message goes through the commercial provider," Gandel said. "We provide a system that sends out a message through multiple modalities."
While students can register for free, there will be an added charge for non-emergency notifications, such as snow days or campus events.
Misusing mobile methods?
Some at SU, however, still worry that such a system may be an unnecessary addition.
"As a student, I think it's an interesting idea, but what type of message would be appropriate?" said Ryan Kelly, president of Student Association. "I don't need things like road closings or SU News on my phone."
But while many schools implemented crisis alert systems in the weeks and months immediately following the incident at Virginia Tech, SU took the time to thoroughly research these systems.
"It's important to do this very carefully," Gandel said. "It needs to become an efficient system that people will pay attention to, but hopefully a system we'll never have to use."
Mike Fleishman, director of technology for SA, recently met with Gandel to provide a student perspective to the process.
"I did mention to Paul that I was curious to know what types of alerts would be sent," Fleishman said. "But it's still too early."
However, the Crisis Alert Committee through Public Safety, a "group of cross-discipline administrators," has been doing some preliminary work to develop the functional protocol for the system, said Callisto, the Public Safety chief.
Once the primary company is chosen, a final charter will be drafted that outlines the official protocol. In an e-mail, Callisto confirmed that "only immediate life threatening crisis events should be the subject of a crisis alert."
Though Public Safety dispatchers will send out the messages, the entire staff will be trained, Callisto said.
Nationwide
Like SU, universities across the United States are implementing crisis alert systems at increasing rates.
The company e2Campus, which SU has used for two years among its IT staff, had only attracted 25 customers from higher education institutions in three years of doing business before the Virginia Tech incident.
But only three weeks after April 16, the company had doubled its clientele from schools nationwide, and it now has 200, said Bryan Crum, spokesperson for e2Campus.
"The types of emergencies or public safety issues that can arise are unpredictable," Crum said, including incidents such as a loose pit bull near Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
According to a survey conducted in July, 40 percent of the members of the Association of American Universities had already discussed or implemented a text message alert system. SU is a member of the AAU, which calls itself an association of 60 leading public and private U.S. research institutions.
The crisis alert system at Virginia Tech, for example, uses "text messages, instant messages, calls to home, office or mobile phone numbers and e-mails to non-Virginia Tech addresses," according to its Web site. Students there can register their contact information online, read about the program's details or request help.
Other schools, such as Towson University in Maryland and the University of Maryland at College Park, use e2Campus. Boston University and the University of California use a system called Send Word Now. Similar companies include Alertify, MessageOne and MobileSphere.
Starting next semester, SU will join this list - though which company the school will hire still remains a mystery.
"Certainly Virginia Tech prompted us to move even more quickly," Gandel said.
Sarah Kia, a sophomore architecture student at Virginia Tech, said the university has become more tense and restrictive since April. Students now need to swipe identification cards to get into all the residence halls - a constant reminder of what happened four months ago Sunday.
Another change was the implementation of a crisis alert system primarily through text messaging, soon after April. But for many, it is just one more change for the campus community.
"I think it solves whatever paranoia is there. Maybe it will make people feel better," Kia said in a phone interview. "But it isn't a top priority for many students. I didn't even know what it was until news reporters started asking us."
For schools nationwide, crisis alert systems, primarily through text messaging, have become a necessity in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Syracuse University is no exception.
By spring semester, a crisis alert system is expected to be up and running at SU, according to the Department of Public Safety and information technology staff, though some worry it may be misused.
"We use the term 'catastrophic crisis,'" said DPS Chief Tony Callisto. "It would have to rise to that level before we send out a message."
Callisto used the example of an active shooter on campus.
Such a system would enable Public Safety staff to communicate with the entire SU community in the event of an emergency through text messages, voice responses, e-mail and other media. It would cost SU more than $100,000 annually, said Paul Gandel, vice president of information technology and chief information officer at SU.
From trial to truth
Well before the Virginia Tech incident, IT staff at SU had already been using a text message alert system called e2Campus for internal emergencies, such as network failures.
"If the network goes down, we need to get multiple people involved immediately," Gandel said. "It could be useful to use for SU in emergencies as a whole."
But for use as a crisis alert system campus-wide at SU, this program had limitations, said Ron Kurdziel, director of telecommunications.
"What about students who are visually impaired?" he said. "It would be nice to be able to ring them."
So immediately after the Virginia Tech incident, at the chancellor's request, the process to find such a program for SU began.
Kurdziel created a list of 85 companies that had contacted his office or that he and members of his staff had found. After some preliminary research and ruling out companies that were primarily business-oriented, Kurdziel narrowed the list to about 20 companies.
Along with a committee of Public Safety, media relations, human relations, telecommunications, residence life and IT staff, Kurdziel was able to narrow the list down to six companies, and finally down to three main contenders. This was done using questionnaires, participating in Web-based seminars and conducting lengthy telephone conversations with company representatives.
Though SU has not yet chosen a specific company, Kurdziel said there's "one we're focusing on."
The notification process will be similar, regardless of which company gets the nod.
"The message goes through the commercial provider," Gandel said. "We provide a system that sends out a message through multiple modalities."
While students can register for free, there will be an added charge for non-emergency notifications, such as snow days or campus events.
Misusing mobile methods?
Some at SU, however, still worry that such a system may be an unnecessary addition.
"As a student, I think it's an interesting idea, but what type of message would be appropriate?" said Ryan Kelly, president of Student Association. "I don't need things like road closings or SU News on my phone."
But while many schools implemented crisis alert systems in the weeks and months immediately following the incident at Virginia Tech, SU took the time to thoroughly research these systems.
"It's important to do this very carefully," Gandel said. "It needs to become an efficient system that people will pay attention to, but hopefully a system we'll never have to use."
Mike Fleishman, director of technology for SA, recently met with Gandel to provide a student perspective to the process.
"I did mention to Paul that I was curious to know what types of alerts would be sent," Fleishman said. "But it's still too early."
However, the Crisis Alert Committee through Public Safety, a "group of cross-discipline administrators," has been doing some preliminary work to develop the functional protocol for the system, said Callisto, the Public Safety chief.
Once the primary company is chosen, a final charter will be drafted that outlines the official protocol. In an e-mail, Callisto confirmed that "only immediate life threatening crisis events should be the subject of a crisis alert."
Though Public Safety dispatchers will send out the messages, the entire staff will be trained, Callisto said.
Nationwide
Like SU, universities across the United States are implementing crisis alert systems at increasing rates.
The company e2Campus, which SU has used for two years among its IT staff, had only attracted 25 customers from higher education institutions in three years of doing business before the Virginia Tech incident.
But only three weeks after April 16, the company had doubled its clientele from schools nationwide, and it now has 200, said Bryan Crum, spokesperson for e2Campus.
"The types of emergencies or public safety issues that can arise are unpredictable," Crum said, including incidents such as a loose pit bull near Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
According to a survey conducted in July, 40 percent of the members of the Association of American Universities had already discussed or implemented a text message alert system. SU is a member of the AAU, which calls itself an association of 60 leading public and private U.S. research institutions.
The crisis alert system at Virginia Tech, for example, uses "text messages, instant messages, calls to home, office or mobile phone numbers and e-mails to non-Virginia Tech addresses," according to its Web site. Students there can register their contact information online, read about the program's details or request help.
Other schools, such as Towson University in Maryland and the University of Maryland at College Park, use e2Campus. Boston University and the University of California use a system called Send Word Now. Similar companies include Alertify, MessageOne and MobileSphere.
Starting next semester, SU will join this list - though which company the school will hire still remains a mystery.
"Certainly Virginia Tech prompted us to move even more quickly," Gandel said.
Be the first to comment on this story