Originally created to inform students of potential danger on campus, Duke Alerts—the University’s emergency notification system—has come to be a blanket notification for all types of campus incidents.
Devised as a response to the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, Duke Alerts has since morphed into a large-scale communication system to warn students of a variety of incidents, from snowstorm warnings to bomb threats. Because of the importance the notification system carries in making students aware of campus safety, it has expanded from its original purpose of warning the community of major campus threats to encompass smaller incidents like burglaries and extreme weather.
“Weather, bombs, shooting or a potential shooting... are the main area [for a Duke Alert],” said Vice President of Administration Kyle Cavanaugh.
But the alert system has also come under fire recently for various inconsistencies it has experienced in the past year.
During a tumultuous week in April when the University experienced three separate bomb threats to West Campus buildings, the Duke community was only notified of the two threats to the Bryan Center, but not of a third threat placed on the Great Hall.
Additionally, after a student’s Central Campus apartment was robbed, the Duke Alert following the incident only noted that an unknown male came into the apartment through an unlocked door, neglecting to mention that a robbery had occurred. The student was also unsure whether the doors were locked.
Alterations over time
After a student gunman killed 32 and injured 17 at Virginia Tech in 2007, universities nationwide were forced to review their emergency notification policies. Duke created Duke Alerts in response to the tragedy shortly after it happened.
“The incident at Virginia Tech was really somewhat of a watershed moment for all schools to take a look at how they go about communicating,” Cavanaugh said. “From there that’s where the Duke Alert system was really branded and coordinated and ever since then there’s been a steady evolution of the tools and the technology used in the emergency management communication phase.”
Cavanaugh noted that, before making quick decisions, the University must adhere to the Clery Act—a federal law that requires United States public and private universities to report University crime statistics, devise plans in case of an emergency and issue “timely warnings” to students and staff during any incident threatening on-campus safety.
When alerts are issued, students receive both an e-mail at their Duke addresses and a text message to the number they specified on their ACES account. Cavanaugh emphasized the University’s policy of “redundancy” as the best method to ensure students are informed.
Because communication has advanced since the notification system was originally created, Cavanaugh said that the administration has taken steps to enhance and increase communication with the Duke community.
Duke Alerts now has its own Facebook page so that students can stay connected with developing situations online.
The University is also looking to expand the information pushed to the Duke community by including state and national news in Duke Alerts, Cavanaugh said. If this does pan out, students may receive alerts not just pertaining to University events but those of national importance as well.
Although the Clery Act only requires the University to send alerts pertaining to crime or emergencies, administrators have chosen to send additional information to students as well.
“Our approach has been to be much broader than [the Clery Act] so we include issues that may go beyond just the strict requirements of the Clery Act,” Cavanaugh said. “If it’s something that we believe is especially a potential emerging issue, we may communicate that in a kind of precursor-y way.”
Such a case occurred in January when Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta sent out a campus-wide email to students regarding the academic year’s first snowstorm, urging students to “hunker down, pull out your old video tapes and 8 track recordings and enjoy a round of whist or hearts with house and floormates.”
“I often make a decision that even though there’s no legal obligation or even ethical obligation to inform the entire University, I still feel that it is in students’ interest to be informed,” Moneta said of the notifications he sends. “I do believe closure is better of incidents than not.”
Timeliness and accuracy
Although the Virginia Tech massacre was the inspiration behind this emergency system, the Boston Marathon explosions and resulting lockdown on nearby campuses have led the nation to question universities’ campus security systems further.
Cavanaugh noted that emergency situations that involve multiple incidents, such as the Boston Marathon events, it is difficult to communicate the most accurate information to a group of people in a timely fashion.
“[When] we have multiple kinds of scenarios, trying to get clarity on exactly the situation becomes a huge challenge,” Cavanaugh said.
Although timeliness is key in sending out alerts, accuracy must be taken into account as well, Cavanaugh said.
“What we try to do to provide as complete and as accurate information as we have as quickly we have it,” Cavanaugh said. “There are many times where the situation is not that clear you can actually create some incorrect action or potentially hysteria if you don’t have clarity on exactly what’s going on.”
Ultimately, the real goal behind any emergency notification system is to keep students informed about campus incidents, Cavanaugh said.
Sophomore Josh Barrett noted that even though he has found Duke Alerts generally successful, there have been times when other sources have notified him first of an event occurring on campus.
“They seem to come quickly enough to enable people to take precautions,” Barrett said. “But I would say that some of the incidents get to me by word of mouth before they come via Duke Alert.”
But Barrett referenced the particular value an alert might have in an emergency such as campus shooting.
“Not only would it allow ample time for most students to seek refuge, but it would also lessen the confusion that complicates incidents like this,” Barrett said. “Students would feel informed and know what the issue is, allowing them to respond appropriately to the situation.”
Sophomore Shashi Masireddy noted Duke Alert’s ability to raise student awareness on campus happenings.
“When we had those bomb threats last semester, [Duke Alerts] helped us have the proper information and stay alert,” Masireddy said.
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