By Megan Fernandez
More than half of Midwestern State University students will be in the dark if an emergency breaks out.
Currently, 34 percent of MSU students are enrolled to receive an emergency notification through the MSU alert system.
MSU Alert is an emergency notification system that allows MSU to send emergency information by e-mail and/or by text message.
All notifications from the MSU alert system are cleared by the chief of police and President Jesse Rogers.
MSU uses an “opt-in” system, where all MSU students have the option of signing up to receive emergency notifications.
They will have the option to take their name off the notification list.
MSU alert is powered through e2 Campus, a mass notifications solutions provider.
MSU currently has a little more than 6,000 students enrolled, even though they have only paid the provider a fee of $5,000 for 3,000 students to use the service.
Beginning summer 2012, however, MSU will begin to pay double the amount of what they currently pay once a new law is passed.
The Texas State Legislature recently passing a law requiring all state schools to automatically register their students for an emergency notification system.
No money was funded for state schools through this law, and no specific fee will be allocated to students’ tuition and fees, as of yet.
Police Chief Dan Williams believes MSU Alert is a great way to relay important information to students about snowstorms and tornadoes, as well as possible acts of terrorism on campus.
In the event of a shooting, Williams sad his officers would be first on the scene. They would immediately notify the Wichita County Sheriff’s Department, Texas Highway Patrol, and Wichita Falls Police Department.
MSU police officers, along with all other officers, have been trained to handle volatile solutions, Williams said.
MSU officials are extremely cautious in determining whether or not an emergency notification should be sent out. While threatening weather notifications may come easy to announce, other situations, especially those involving threats, are thoroughly investigated beforehand.
Williams said that in an event of a rumored bomb threat, he and his officers would investigate the situation before making any decisions. However, if a threat is called in with detailed information of where the bomb was placed and when it would blow up, no precautions are taken and an emergency notification will automatically be sent out.
Williams said the MSU police officers do their best to head off situations by searching for weapons in dorms and by the housing staff reporting anything suspicious. During the time Williams has been at MSU, no weapons have been found in the dorms.
Williams wishes more workshops could be held between officers, faculty and students, informing them on how to react to a shooter on campus.
If notified that a shooter is on campus while in a classroom students should: lock and or barricade doors, turn off lights, close blinds, block windows, and turn off radios and computer monitors. Williams advises everyone to keep calm and out of sight and silence cell phones.
While the MSU Alert deals only with campus emergencies, there is another category called “timely warning,” dealing with recurring crimes in Wichita Falls. For example, this past summer multiple robberies were recorded within a two to three-day span in Wichita Falls. Because the robberies took place near MSU, Williams sent a timely warning to the campus, notifying students to be cautious with their belongings.
This warning was not sent through MSU Alert, but through email.
The MSU alert is not a news source. It is used strictly for emergencies dealing with the campus, not Wichita Falls, Williams said.
Williams hopes the notifications provider MSU chooses to use keeps pace with technology.
MSU Alert is not only for students and faculty, but also parents who wish to be notified of emergencies at the same time of their son or daughter.
Signing up for MSU Alert takes less then five minutes, Williams said.