The WolfAlert system and the OnCampus app alert students, faculty and visitors of criminal, weather and other emergencies that occur on and around campus. Students, faculty and visitors receive text messages when an emergency occurs.
According to Major Ian Kendrick, support services director for the NC State University Police Department, the Clery Act mandates that universities disclose crime statistics and security information if they receive federal financial aid. This includes timely alerts of crimes both on campus and areas immediately surrounding campus.
The information provided by the police to the campus community is based on multiple factors: whether the crime is Clery related, whether it happens on or near Clery geography and whether there is an imminent threat to campus. Clery geography includes public areas around campus, such as Hillsborough Street. The campus police department also reports crimes that occur in private businesses that may impact students, according to Kendrick.
WolfAlert information can be distributed to the campus community through text messages, emails, digital billboards, sirens or OnCampus app notifications. Kendrick said he and other emergency management encourage all members of the NC State community and NC State families to get the OnCampus app in order to stay informed.
“We’d like for students, faculty and staff to really embrace that, because when we send out texts, it may actually get through the app faster than text and vice versa,” Kendrick said.
Todd Becker, an emergency manager with Emergency Management & Mission Continuity, said that the level of threat determines what mediums the police use to send out notifications.
Kendrick described the process of deciding whether or not to send out a WolfAlert as fluid. He said that police will typically decide to do so if they recognize a pattern of crimes, if they have enough descriptive information to send a message or if there is an imminent and ongoing threat to campus.
According to Becker, the OnCampus app is an effective medium for emergency management and campus police to notify the public of emergencies occurring on or around campus. In addition, the app is easy to use, reliable and fast, which is vital when disclosing potential threats.
Kendrick added that campus police have received feedback about the response time for WolfAlert. He said that police need to validate information before sending it out to students.
“Sometimes it does take a little bit of time to validate the information we’re receiving so we get accurate information out to the students, but we do try to get it out in as quick a fashion as we possibly can,” Kendrick said.
The WolfAlert system is also a way for campus police to broadcast information to non-students. Unlike university email alerts, OnCampus can reach anyone who is on or near NC State, including families of students, summer camps that use the campus and people who visit the area.
Since the installment of the system, it has continued to comply with the Clery act, but police said that they are open to any feedback on their Ask University Police page.
