SU implements FIRSTCALL system

FIRSTCALL, a 24-hour telephone warning system that will alert the Southern University family about critical information, warnings and advisories concerning emergencies on campus, was launched Tuesday, Mar. 11 according to a memorandum sent by Interim-Chancellor Margaret Ambrose.
Ambrose and Michael Morris, chief of the Southern University Police Department, are encouraging administration, faculty and staff of the SU System and the campuses of SUBR, SU Law Center and SU Agriculture Center to voluntarily sign up in order to maximize the effectiveness of the system.
Registering for the emergency notification system can be done by logging onto Southern’s official website www.subr.edu, http://alertregistration.com/subr or blackboard. Since Tuesday, approximately 680 have enrolled said Flandus McClinton, vice-chancellor for finance and administration. A test run will be forthcoming.
Jessica Womack, freshman nursing major from Baton Rouge, who has already signed up for the emergency notification system said, “I feel safe on this campus, but what happened at Louisiana Technical College was too close to home; nobody is untouchable.”
The system asks for a name, university and secondary email addresses, primary and secondary phone numbers and a SMS device for text messages. Once the information is entered, Morris said that each signee will receive an email stating a confirmation of registration and a passcode to use when the need to update contact information arises.
FIRSTCALL is capable of sending “30,000 voice messages within two to five minutes and 200,000 texts within 10 minutes,” said Morris. The chief also shared other features of the system like automatic feedback. He is able to obtain a report that dates and times who was called, how many times, if there was an answer or not, if text messages were sent and to what email address; therefore a student cannot say that they were not informed, if the current contact information was given.
According to Morris, a plan to implement such a system was in the works prior to the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred in April 2007, but the shootings served as catalyst to expedite the FIRSTCALL system.
“I saw the alert when on blackboard when I was taking a Spanish test, so I will go back today and register,” said Sietra Harvey, junior mass communications major from DeQuincy. Harvey added that it was a good thing that cell phones and text messages were usable with this system because “students communicate through cell phones and read text messages throughout the day.”
Morris explained that the state of Louisiana allocated almost $2 million for this project during the 2006-07 fiscal year under the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents, a state agency created by the 1974 Louisiana Constitution.
According to www.regents.state.la.us, the Board of Regents coordinates all public higher education in Louisiana and is a 15 member board appointed by the governor to six-year, overlapping terms, with at least one (but not more than two) regents drawn from each of Louisiana’s seven congressional districts.
When a crisis occurs, Morris and certain individuals of his staff have been given the authorization by the chancellor to request an alert to be sent to the Southern family if time doesn’t permit him to contact her first. Otherwise, the chief is to contact the chancellor first. Next in line are McClinton, Johnny Tolliver, vice chancellor for academic affairs and Lynn Dickerson, vice chancellor for student affairs, said McClinton.
Morris said if anyone has an emergency, call SUPD at 225.771.2770 and officers will be dispatched. At that time, if deemed necessary that an alert is needed, the system will be activated.