Although the University’s implementation of the new WolfAlert emergency alert system will benefit campus safety, it is important that officials take the time to create a set of guidelines illustrating a plan of action for any specific crisis situation.

WolfAlert includes two components: an audible alert system consisting of 11 towers positioned throughout campus and an emergency text messaging system. While these two mechanisms will help students become aware of an ongoing catastrophe, there needs to be a procedure in place that gives those on campus a strategy for how to respond in a disaster situation.

Planning ahead for any kind of emergency is a much more responsible approach than making judgment calls when situations arise. Without any kind of preparation, notifying students of a potential safety risk would not only fail to keep them safe from harm, but also might lead to increased disorder.

These emergency response guidelines should start by outlining basic information for the WolfAlert system. Officials should specify what constitutes a University emergency and in what situations the notification system will be used. Some circumstances might call for the use of text messaging, but not the speaker system and vice versa. Those limits need to be predetermined.

Both of the WolfAlert methods need to only be used in a time of impending danger, and use of the audible alert speakers or the text messaging service when there is no impending threat will only cause needless chaos. Inappropriate handling of the system will also decrease students’ likelihood of responding seriously when they are actually in jeopardy.

The University then needs to take time to discuss with students how to appropriately respond to emergency information. This dialogue needs to start at New Student Orientation and continue with review sessions held by resident advisers. If students know how to appropriately respond when they receive a message through WolfAlert, the system will become more effective.

Often, individuals will completely freeze up when they receive foreboding information, but if the University reviews how to act in these situations, students will have frames of reference for how to handle their fear.

An emergency situation is not the time for unnecessary dialogue, and by creating a course of action beforehand, any incident will undoubtedly unfold more smoothly. Of course, not every possible situation can be accounted for in advance, but by creating plans of action and engaging in these kinds of discussion with students, even the most unexpected happening can be dealt with.