Central’s Emergency Notification System
Central’s Emergency Action Plan defines a crisis as “any event that jeopardizes or harms our image, reputation or financial stability” and an emergency as “any unplanned event that can cause deaths or significant injuries to employees, customers or the public…”
Central’s Emergency Notification System will only be used to distribute information regarding emergencies that dictate immediate action. Thus an emergency is a situation which poses an immediate risk to the health and safety of the campus community or significantly disrupts its programs and activities.
Based on the severity and affected constituency of the event, alerting or notification of the occurrence of the event will be initiated utilizing one or more of the following sources:
- Black Board Connect 5 text message
- Email message sent to employees@central.edu and students@central.edu
- Signage in Residence Halls
- Alarms, sirens
- Information available on Central web pages
The messages will direct individuals where to go for further information or what action to take.
Blackboard Connect 5
Blackboard Connect 5 is the name of the college’s emergency notification text message system. The purpose of this system is to notify members of the campus community of important information in the event of an emergency. All Central College students are enrolled as participation is mandatory. The only cost you may incur are the regular text messaging fees charged by your cell phone carrier. Contact your cellular provider to verify that you are able to receive text messages and learn about any costs associated with receiving text messages.
The college will only use Blackboard Connect 5 to send text messages to test the system (up to two messages per semester) and in the event of an actual emergency. We will not the Blackboard Connect 5 system to send less important campus announcement messages or to talk to you on the telephone unless you have provided us with your cell phone number through a different means.