08.21.07 
Southeastern urging its 3,000 students to enable their cell phones to receive emergency text messages from the university

By Southeastern University

Southeastern University is implementing a security tool to help keep its students safe, as it prepares for the first back-to-school season since the April massacre at Virginia Tech.

Within the first two weeks of school, Southeastern officials will tell its 3,000 students about a new, phone text messaging system that the university will use to instruct them during emergencies. School officials will tell new students and commuter students about the system--and how to register their phones for the service--during Southeastern's Aug. 18-25, new student orientation. School officials will educate returning, on-campus students about the system during their initial residence hall meetings on Aug. 27.

During the information sessions, students will be directed to Southeastern's student Intranet and a Web page that will ask students to enter their cell phone numbers and other information that'll enable the university to send them urgent messages. The phone text messaging service, which can transmit messages to 5,000 students in one minute, also will send security messages to the e-mail accounts of Southeastern students.

Southeastern's security task force, appointed within weeks of the Virginia Tech massacre, recommended that Southeastern employ phone text messaging as part of beefed-up security measures. Southeastern officials decided last month to use the e2Campus text messaging service, which is provided by the Leesburg, Va. company Omnilert.

Text messaging will be a fast and efficient way to communicate during emergencies "in a media that this generation is using," said Steven Griner, the university's media services director and head of the security task force.

Southeastern's 344 faculty and staff members also will be able to receive emergency, phone text messages through this new system.