Following Monday’s deadly stabbing spree at the University of Texas, there were several reports of UT students upset with the emergency management system due to a delayed alert on what was going on on campus.
Some students reported to the Austin American Statesman receiving a university alert as late as half an hour after the incident occurred, which was at 1:46 p.m. According to the Statesman, they sent out their breaking news alert 10 minutes following the attacks, and Austin Police Department tweeted about it at 2:07 p.m.
Complaints about the delayed alerts prompted UT president, Greg Fenves to say late Monday that they would work on a faster notification system going forward.
“Many students and parents are frustrated with how long the university took to notify them of today’s attack,” Fenves said in a statement. “I understand those frustrations, and I am committed to faster notification in the future.”
Texas Tech Director of Communications, Chris Cook, says the best way for students at Tech to stay in the know of emergency situations is through the Tech Alert system.
There are four ways to receive Tech Alerts: cell phone, home phone, text and email. Students and faculty at Texas Tech, as well as anyone with at “ttu.edu” email address is automatically signed up to receive Tech Alerts.
The alert system begins with Texas Tech Police investigating reported suspicious activity. Once a threat is confirmed, they will send out the initial alert. The Texas Tech communications department will then proceed to send out further announcements.
According to Cook, depending on the situation, once TTUPD confirm that there is an official threat to campus, that an alert will be sent out within minutes to students, faculty and parents.
“There are calls that come in sometimes of suspicious activity on campus and it’s investigated first and when I say investigated, not a lengthy process, but just try to verify that a threat does exist before we initiate a Tech Alert that goes out to thousands of people including parents,” said Cook. “And so, you’re very careful of doing that while at the same time being cognizant that time is precious.”
Cook also shared that in the event of a major emergency or threat to the campus, that the emergency communications department will be sure to notify surrounding businesses and areas near the school. Lubbock Police Department will also be called into assist.
If you are a student or parent of a student and would like to sign up for Tech Alerts, you’re encouraged to visit www.ttu.edu/emergencyalert
