Students and community encouraged to update information for the alert system
On April 24 at approximately 12 p.m., the Davis campus will be conducting a test of the WarnMe emergency notification system. The test’s purpose, according to Clement O. Stokes, director of emergency management and mission continuity, is to familiarize “students, faculty, and staff […] with the notification process” as well as the reception and delivery of the notifications.
This is the second in a set of triannual tests that allow Stokes and his team to address potential system errors and issues while the survey allows reception of feedback “about areas on campus that may impede messaging and also to provide information about other safety tools we have available.”
News & Media Relations Specialist at UC Davis Strategic Communications Julia Ann Easley explained that the recent “vendor problem discovered on the night [January 30] of the Davis police officer’s shooting has been corrected.”
As of April 19, WarnMe’s current registration statistics are 56,045 Davis campus individuals, 14,858 Sacramento campus individuals and 2,037 community opt-in individuals.
According to Easley, the test and survey will be sent to the Davis campus, the Bodega Marine Laboratory and the Tahoe Environmental Research Center. Both vehicles of feedback and testing will be sent out via text and email messages to all persons registered in the WarnMe system.
WarnMe was created with the intent of “help save lives, keep people safe, prevent unnecessary inconvenience and reduce undue concern [through the] timely dissemination of information,” Stokes said. He further explained that WarnMe serves to “meet the need for urgent communication across our expansive university.”
Easley stated that UC Davis’ implementation of WarnMe was preceded by tragedy.
“[UC Davis first tested and implemented] after a multiple shooting at Northern Illinois University [which] underscored one of the main lessons from the earlier tragedy at Virginia Tech in April 2007: Campuses need to share emergency information in a timely way,” Easley said.
UC Davis residents and community members are encouraged by both Easley and Stokes to both register and regularly update their information.
“About every four months, the Student Information System will prompt students to enter or update their contact information,” Stokes said.
Students can update their information at any time, as the WarnMe system updates its contact database nightly.
Easley encourages Davis community members “to review your WarnMe contact information periodically”, highlighting the importance of new students and faculty adding personal contact information as well as individuals who have recently changed their email addresses or phone numbers.
Students and community members who do not receive communication on April 24 are instructed by Easley to “email administrators at warnme@ucdavis.edu so that can be remedied”. Further information regarding the UC Davis WarnMe system and the registration process can be found at https://www.ucdavis.edu/emergency
Written by: Priyanka Shreedar — campus@theaggie.org
Editor’s note: This article previously incorrectly stated the origin of WarnMe and UC Davis’ implementation of the program. We regret this error.
