Emergency communications update
Dear William & Mary Community,
From time to time it is necessary for the university to communicate with students, faculty and staff on matters related to emergency communications. These communication can range from weather related matters to safety issues on campus. As we work to improve these communications, we are streamlining the notification system as outlined below. Please note this change as you consider how you want to receive emergency alerts.
William & Mary’s emergency communications are sent through RAVE, providing the flexibility to send messages via phone, email (“TribeAlerts”), text and, for the most urgent situations, through the emergency sirens on campus and Alertus on your computer. Through system testing, we have determined that sending notifications to desk phones significantly impacts the timeliness of calls to personal/mobile phones (most people’s primary phones) and duplicates the notification being sent to your computers.
As a result, we will be removing desk phones from the notification protocol. Emergency notifications will no longer automatically be sent to office/desk phones for faculty and staff. Faculty and staff who wish to still receive notifications via their office desk phone may add that number to their emergency alerts under personal information available through Banner self-service.
As a reminder, there are additional emergency resources available on campus including:
- Rave Guardian app, which works like an emergency “blue phone” in your pocket and offers a number of safety functions, including the ability to set a timer if you are alone or in an unfamiliar place, so that friends, police or others you trust will be notified if you are late.
- Crisis Manager app, which provides a guide of helpful education and response information on a number of emergency situations.
Both of these apps may be downloaded from the W&M Emergency Management Team's website, which also offers additional information and resources related to campus emergencies.
- Campus Escort (221-3293) program, which offers evening transportation on campus.
The success of our emergency notification system is only as good as the contact information we have. All members of the William & Mary community should annually review the information they have submitted for emergency notifications in Banner. It is important that you list your personal contact number first in that notification string since RAVE makes notifications to phone numbers in the order they appear in that list. If, for instance, you have a family member’s phone number listed first, that number will be notified before your own.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sam Jones, chair
Emergency Management Team
