Email added to WMU Alert, test set for Sept. 22

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—At 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, a campuswide test of the WMU Alert system will include email notification to the email addresses of all members of the campus community, as well as text and phone messages to those who have previously opted in to the WMU Alert system.

The addition of campus email to the alert system is the result of updated regulations the Department of Education released in the 2016 edition of its Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting. One new requirement is that even when an institution has an opt-in notification system, it must ensure the campus community receives emergency notifications and timely security alerts through a method that all can access.

Since all current students and employees have WMU email addresses, emergency notifications and timely warnings will also be sent as email messages to those accounts. All who have registered through WMU Alert by Sept. 20 for a text message, phone call or both will receive such a test message in addition to email notification. Members of the campus community can sign up for WMU Alert through GoWMU.

The scheduled Sept. 22 test will take place unless the WMU Alert system has been activated within the previous 24 hours. If it has, the test will be postponed until Friday, Sept. 23. When the test is conducted, messages conveyed with all alert methods—email, text, or phone call—will clearly state that the message is part of a test of WMU Alert system.

As an institution that participates in federal Title IV student financial assistance programs, WMU complies with Higher Education Act regulations including producing the Clery annual security report.

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