Students, Faculty and Staff,
As we approach the fall semester, we want to make everyone aware of some changes to Alert Carolina messaging. This includes two new labels and changes to the types of messages that will be delivered via text.
The four main message types have not changed and are as follows:
- Emergency Warning – These warnings alert campus to a confirmed significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to health or safety on campus. Emergency warnings are accompanied by emergency sirens to alert people who are outdoors.
- Crime Alert – These alerts notify the campus community of any Clery Act crime as soon as the information is available so people can protect themselves and/or their property from similar crimes. Crime alerts are intended to inform people to be cautious, and more aware of their surroundings, so the sirens will not sound.
- Adverse Conditions – The University sends adverse conditions notifications when circumstances exist that do not present an immediate threat to health or safety, yet action may enable people to protect themselves and/or their property. These situations include adverse weather events, such as snowstorms or hurricanes, major campus utility outages or other situations that would require a change in the University’s normal operating status.
- Informational – These alerts inform campus when a situation is not an emergency or does not pose an immediate threat to the campus community but is of significant interest to the safety of the campus.
Moving forward, Crime Alerts and Adverse Conditions messages will only be sent via text if they are labeled “urgent” and “critical,” respectively. These new terms signify these alerts require the immediate attention of the campus community.
For example, a crime against a person, such as an assault in which the suspect has not been arrested, is a Crime Alert that will now be labeled “urgent” and sent via text. A property crime, such as a series of electric scooter thefts, will continue to be sent as a Crime Alert but it will not have the “urgent” label and will not be sent via text.
Students, faculty and staff will continue to receive all alerts via email regardless of this change.
Alerts that contain the new labels will most likely be formatted as:
- Crime Alert: Urgent – Type of Crime
- Adverse Conditions: Critical – Topic of Alert
We are making the additions of “urgent” and “critical” to Alert Carolina messages in accordance with new federal requirements for text messages in alerts issued by communities’ and campuses’ Emergency Notification Systems.
For more information, please visit the Alert Carolina website.