The University has purchased and begun to implement Connect-ED, an emergency notification system that sends campus-wide voicemails, text messages and emails to students in the event of a crisis.
Though the purchase seems particularly necessary following last week's shootings at Virginia Tech, the University bought the system two weeks ago, University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt '96 said, in part because a January campus power outage "showed us that we needed a better way to communicate with students [in the event of an emergency]."
Before selecting the new system, the University tested "a variety of different services," Cliatt said, adding that the University's Emergency Preparedness Task Force had been "discussing our responses to various crises and emergencies and ways to improve how we deal with them."
The service costs between $2 and $3 per student annually and allows for messages to be sent only to people in certain groups, such as a single residential college or dorm.
Natasha Rabe, the chief marketing officer for NTI, the company that owns and runs Connect-ED, said that between 75 and 80 colleges use the system, in addition to other school systems, municipalities and military and governmental organizations. In total, the system is used to send between 20 and 25 million messages per month.
In addition to notifying campus residents of ongoing emergencies, Rabe said the system can function as a warning device. "We have had campuses use Connect-ED to let students know that there was the threat of a hurricane and evacuate them," she said, "as well as to help them know when cleanup was happening and when they could come back to school."
The system does, however, have limitations. The University currently only has cell phone numbers of only a tenth of the undergraduate student body, Cliatt said, but for the system to work effectively, students, faculty and staff must voluntarily submit their numbers. The administration plans to ask students to voluntarily submit this information via SCORE in the near future, she added.
Connect-ED is the most recent addition to the University's emergency notification system, which includes web announcements, emails, an automated message line and the Tiger TV alert system.
The program diverges from previous systems, however, which required students to seek out notifications by checking email or listening to the radio. "Our previous systems required active roles on the part of the student," Cliatt said. "With the new system, the University can proactively reach out to students."
News of the Connect-ED system has met with mixed reactions from Princeton students.
Jake Arluck '10 said he thinks the system is a sensible addition. "I feel slightly safer," he said. "I mean, for a true, 'people-are-dying' emergency, there's no substitute for sending in the cavalry — bringing in Public Safety and the police. But for something like a blackout, that's about as good as is reasonably expectable."
Esther Lee '08 said she thinks the system is "good, but not for emergencies, just for general notification."
"I feel safer, but I really think a PA system would be better," she said, "because there are people who don't have cell phones, and a PA system could reach the whole campus."
Others were less reassured. Juan Contreras '09 said, "It doesn't make me feel any safer. It's not really preventative — it wouldn't stop a school shooting from happening."
Still, all of the students interviewed said that they would provide their cell phone numbers for the new system if asked.
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