Last week’s power outages gave the Case Western Reserve community even more opportunities than it might have wanted to see how its new alert system performed. As disconcerting as the events were, university officials did see significant improvements in the speed of alerts reaching faculty, staff and students. That said, the university’s ability to provide timely information still depends on individuals’ participation.
While all university email addresses and phones are in the alert system, faculty, staff and students must supply their mobile phone numbers to receive text updates. Last week text updates reached all cell phones on file in fewer than 15 seconds, while emails took as long as two and a half minutes.
University offices that manage student and employee data are establishing systems to ease the collection of mobile numbers for the university to use to contact people in emergencies. But, as was evident last week, we cannot count on incidents to await our readiness. At this time, the university urges all faculty, staff and students to provide mobile phone contacts to the Rave system to ensure they receive alerts as quickly as possible.
To enter this information, please go to the Rave Mobile Safety site, getrave.com. Type “Case Western Reserve University” when asked for your address. The system will ask for your Case Western Reserve University sign-on and password, and then walk you through the process of entering and confirming your mobile contact number. Case Western Reserve thanks you in advance for assisting the university in enhancing campus safety.