In an ongoing effort to improve Emergency Notification to the WCU campus community, the Office of Emergency Services in partnership with the Division of IT has developed a new process for students, staff, and faculty to enroll and update cellular phone contact information used to send text and/or voice messages to them in an emergency.  Previously, we have encouraged staff and faculty to sign-up voluntarily to receive WCU Emergency Alert (previously known as Cat Tracker) text and voice messages. This was done as part of the processing for new hires or through email campaigns.  This process has been successful, with 65% of staff and faculty enrolled, but keeping their emergency alert notification information up-to-date has been a challenge.  

Beginning January 2014, staff and faculty will be prompted two times per year, through My Cat, to enter their emergency notification information or to opt-out of receiving WCU Emergency Alert text and voice messages.  The new WCU Emergency Alert data collection screen (shown below) will pop-up when staff and faculty enter My Cat to complete timesheets/leave reports, approve timesheets/leave reports, or to perform other tasks in My Cat.  The screen will appear prior to the start of the fall and spring semesters and it must be filled out before employees can access My Cat services.  Staff and faculty have the option to provide a cell phone number to receive voice and text messages, text messages only, or to OPT OUT and not receive any emergency notifications about incidents/events that may affect the WCU campus. 

 The goal of this new enrollment process is to provide faculty and staff the opportunity to insure their emergency alert notification information is up-to-date and/or make a personal decision to not receive text and voice messages about emergencies affecting the WCU campus community.  No system of communication is guaranteed to reach every individual under every set of circumstances, so we will continue to assess our communication strategies and redundancy capabilities, as those efforts benefit the campus.

 If you have questions about the Emergency Notification processes/policies or how/when the system is used, please contact the Office of Emergency Services at 828-227-3445 or thudson@wcu.edu.  

Emergency Alert System 2