Mississippi State University Begins Emergency Announcement System

June 12, 2007 By News Report

As part of continuing emergency response efforts initiated by Mississippi State University (MSU) President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong, the university is announcing a new communication program named Maroon Alert.

"We have reviewed our communication methods and have moved forward aggressively with new ways of notifying the campus of dangerous situations," Foglesong said.

A campus Crisis Action Team formed last year has worked closely with local and state responders in a series of periodic emergency drills, said Dean of Students Mike White, the team's co-chair.

"In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy, we revisited our ways of communicating with the campus community, and we are implementing even more methods of notifying students, faculty and staff of emergency situations," White added.

To be launched soon, a new text-message notification allows students and employees the option of receiving emergency messages on their cell phones. They also may choose to utilize instant messaging options to receive emergency pop-up messages on their personal computers.

"We're trying to reach students with technologies they use, as well as provide nearly instantaneous notification if needed," White explained.

Under the Maroon Alert system, other communication methods include:

An emergency Web page that provides continuous updates about the situation;
A system of campus sirens to broadcast a warning signal;
E-mail messages sent to official campus addresses;
Announcements on campus radio station WMSV-FM [91.1] and through other public media outlets;
Notifications from campus personnel authorized to use university radios; and
Loudspeaker notifications from key campus locations and roving police cruisers.

"We take campus safety seriously," Foglesong said. "We encourage every individual at Mississippi State to take reasonable precautions for their personal safety, and we're committed to doing all we can to ensure the safest campus environment possible."

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