Emergency notification test gets mixed results
By: Meghan Kazer
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: News
With unpredictable, harmful incidents happening on college campuses nationwide, DePauw University has joined in the trend of alerting students of potential hazards on campus via text messaging.
On Feb. 6, the campus took part in an emergency notification test to make sure students, faculty and staff could be alerted in the event of such an emergency. The process ran smoothly, with only a few glitches recognized and taken care of, said Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Cox.
Notifications were sent through University-wide e-mail, WGRE, campus media, Novell network alerts and JYNGLE, the new emergency notification system set up by the University last year which allows students to receive text message alerts.
"Several people received notification via multiple methods," Cox said in an e-mail. "The most efficient means of delivery according to this test was for those registered to receive text messages via JYNGLE."
Although the test run was successful, with 90 percent of the campus receiving notification within 15 minutes, a few problems were detected through student and faculty feedback. Cox said the follow-up survey was completed by 184 people.
He said there was a difficulty in the actual transmission of e-mail, requiring an extra step, which slowed down the process. The problem was corrected immediately, however, by Information Services, Cox said.
Another problem communicated in student and faculty surveys is that less than one-third of the campus is registered with JYNGLE, and as it is the most effective communicator in a time of crisis, this poses a problem. Cox said he doesn't understand why more students haven't utilized the system.
"We promote it like we promote Safe Ride," he said, adding that it is advertised in every program public safety offers.
"Unfortunately that says something, that we still have a long way to come in understanding that emergency preparedness is your own responsibility."
Sophomore Jen Currier signed up for JYNGLE so she could stay informed.
On Feb. 6, the campus took part in an emergency notification test to make sure students, faculty and staff could be alerted in the event of such an emergency. The process ran smoothly, with only a few glitches recognized and taken care of, said Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Cox.
Notifications were sent through University-wide e-mail, WGRE, campus media, Novell network alerts and JYNGLE, the new emergency notification system set up by the University last year which allows students to receive text message alerts.
"Several people received notification via multiple methods," Cox said in an e-mail. "The most efficient means of delivery according to this test was for those registered to receive text messages via JYNGLE."
Although the test run was successful, with 90 percent of the campus receiving notification within 15 minutes, a few problems were detected through student and faculty feedback. Cox said the follow-up survey was completed by 184 people.
He said there was a difficulty in the actual transmission of e-mail, requiring an extra step, which slowed down the process. The problem was corrected immediately, however, by Information Services, Cox said.
Another problem communicated in student and faculty surveys is that less than one-third of the campus is registered with JYNGLE, and as it is the most effective communicator in a time of crisis, this poses a problem. Cox said he doesn't understand why more students haven't utilized the system.
"We promote it like we promote Safe Ride," he said, adding that it is advertised in every program public safety offers.
"Unfortunately that says something, that we still have a long way to come in understanding that emergency preparedness is your own responsibility."
Sophomore Jen Currier signed up for JYNGLE so she could stay informed.
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