MTSU plans fall-semester campuswide safety alert system with emails, texts, calls

MTSU student Taylor Lane checks her phone while taking a break on the first day of fall 2020 classes on campus in this August file photo. MTSU will provide a test alert for all its students, faculty and staff via email, calls and texts Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 1:15 p.m. during the fall 2020 test of the university’s Critical Notification System, run by Rave Mobile Safety. (MTSU file photo by J. Intintoli)

MTSU will briefly test its campus emergency alert system Wednesday, Oct. 28, with a special message for the university’s 25,000-plus registered users via email, text and automated phone calls.

The test of MTSU’s Critical Notification System, conducted each semester by the University Police Department, is set for 1:15 p.m. Central Wednesday.

The university’s website, www.mtsu.edu, its MTSUNews.com news site, and all digital signage around the Murfreesboro campus will display the test message just as they do during a real emergency, along with the university’s primary social media channels.

The university’s Twitter account, @MTSUNews, will tweet the test alert, and it also will post to the MTSU and university police Facebook pages.

All current MTSU students, faculty and staff can verify and update their Rave notification preferences by logging in with their usernames and passwords at www.getrave.com/login/mtsu.

Details on MTSU’s Critical Notification System and emergency preparedness plan can be found at www.mtsu.edu/alert4u. Information about the alert system is also available anytime on the university’s weather information page, http://mtsunews.com/weather.

MTSU tests and evaluates its Critical Notification System once each semester to pinpoint potential problems. Previous tests continue to show a near-100 percent message success rate, and digital signage in campus buildings displayed the test alerts within 30 seconds of transmission.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)