82 Emergency Notification Procedure
- Procedure Statement-As safety and emergency notification practices are under greater scrutiny at institutions of higher education, it is the position of Murray State College that at least one emergency contact person must be listed for each student enrolled at the College. A student’s cell phone number is also part of the emergency notification protocol in case the college should need to contact the student via text message about critical incidents on campus. Information gathered remains confidential to the extent allowed by law.
- Scope-This procedure applies to all admitted and enrolled students of the College. This procedure provides for two distinctly different types of emergency notification. First, it details all the ways the College provides notification about emergencies to students, employees, and visitors. Second, it indicates the way the College will notify a student’s designated emergency contact in the event of personal distress or missing person status.
- College Communication of Emergency-Emergencies may range from inclement weather to building evacuations to campus closures, and the College has a variety of tools to communicate with the public in the event of these and other possible emergencies. The institution will without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification. Students, employees, and visitors will be immediately notified upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to health or safety. Depending on the type of emergency, some or all of the following tools may be used to communicate with students, employees, and visitors (unless issuing notification will compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency):
- Siren System -This system is tested at about noon on the first Wednesday of every month. It delivers a siren warning and public address in the event of certain outdoor emergencies.
- Emergency Web Site Posting -The college Web site, http://www.mscok.edu, will be updated with information during actual emergencies or campus closures.
- College Information Line for Emergency Notifications, (580) 387-7000 – Students and employees may call this main number for information about emergencies and campus closures. The Public Information Officer will record the appropriate emergency notification should it become necessary.
- Campus Television Emergency Announcement System -Emergency announcements will be displayed on LED monitors across campus, instructing the viewer where to go for additional information.
- Campus Group E-mail – During emergencies, a group e-mail will be sent to every student and employee. The message, marked urgent, directs individuals to the MSC Web site for additional information and instructions: www.mscok.edu
- Text Messaging – Text messages will be sent to every student and employee with cell phone numbers on file in the event of an emergency.
- Voice Mail to Office Telephones- A voice mail message can be utilized to send emergency messages to employee office telephones on the MSC Campus.
- Local News Media -The Public Information Officer sends press releases and makes calls to contacts on a local media list. Because of the transient nature of its population, the College depends a great deal on broadcast media to notify students, and employees of emergencies before or during their commutes.
- Public Safety Vehicle Announcements -Murray State College Police/Security vehicles are equipped with public address systems that officers can use to provide instructions to pedestrians during emergencies.
- Emergency Contact Information-Every student must provide the College with the name and contact information of at least one individual who could be contacted in the event of an individual emergency. This information will be collected during the admissions process and during the enrollment process. This information will be input into the operating system and a report will be generated by the Registrar at the end of each enrollment period. The Academic Advisement Office will contact any student who has omitted emergency contact information.
- Updating Emergency Contact Information-Students are required to update their primary cell phone and emergency contact information during the enrollment process.
- Privacy and Confidentiality-Official use of emergency contact information is subject to the same privacy and record retention requirements as other official College information.
- Authoritative Source-The authoritative source of this policy and responsibility for its implementation rests with the Vice President for Student Affairs. The College emergency protocols are managed by the Vice President of Student Affairs.
- For Assistance-Questions about data security should be directed to the registrar at (580) 387-7231. Questions about acceptable use standards should be directed to the Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at (580) 387-7181.