University sees campus-wide enrollment in text alert system
A year after the stabbing of a student on the first day of class, CU officials are making sure students are prepared for future emergencies by encouraging them to sign up for the university’s text message alert system.
The RAVE CU Alert System is designed to send a text message to your cell phone in the event of any emergency or campus closures. The service saw a drastic increase in numbers after the incident involving the stabbing of a freshman at the UMC last fall. Greg Stauffer of Information Technology Services at CU said there are now 14,667 enrollees, 1,000 of which were added in the last seven days. The service is offered not only to students but faculty and staff as well.
Nick Vetter, a freshman integrative physiology major, said he would be signing up for the alerts because he feels it is worthwhile to do so.
“It is a program that I will sign up for,” Vetter said. “It seems like it is something that I should sign up for especially if the administration is recommending it.”
CU has made this program very public through e-mails, CUConnect and at orientation sessions.
“The stabbing brought attention to the service and allowed a lot of people to see the alert system’s value; and therefore sign up jumped to about 10,000 after the start of last year,” Stauffer said.
Stauffer continued by saying that aside from tests, the stabbing was the only instance when the system has been used. Students said he was very pleased with the idea of an alert system that contacts them directly.
Joe Beimford, a sophomore open option major, also said he thought the alerts were a good idea.
“You can only be so prepared and I learned that after the stabbing,” he said.
The need to be informed about incidents on college campuses concerning safety is something most students and staff can agree upon. After being asked the effectiveness of the alert system Stauffer said, “[the system] worked very well and we were very happy with how it worked.”
Sign-up is easy and can be done in less than five minutes by logging on to CUConnect and following the links of CU Boulder Emergency alerts.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kenny Rosenstein at Kenneth.rosenstein@colorado.edu.
