Your student’s safety and security at the University of Arkansas is of the utmost importance to the faculty, staff, and other members of the campus community. Both the RazALERT notification system and the Guardian App are designed to inform and help students stay safe.
The RazALERT emergency message system is the University of Arkansas’ first line of communication in any type of campus emergency. RazALERT (pronounced raise-alert) is a crucial part of a campus-wide system to keep the U of A community secure and informed. But it only works if students are set up to receive the message.
RazALERT is used to send emergency text, email, and recorded phone messages to all students, faculty, and staff members when there is a life-threatening situation on campus.
- Text messages sent to a phone are the fastest method, but have the least information.
- E-mails contain more information, but take several minutes longer to receive.
- Phone messages, have more information than a text, but take the longest to receive.
RazALERT e-mail messages automatically go to everyone on campus with a uark.edu e-mail account. Phone messages are sent automatically to all office phones on campus.
To receive text messages, or phone messages to personal phones, students can provide phone numbers to the system through their RazALERT profile. To subscribe to this service, students can log into ISIS, go to the “Personal Information” section and choose “Campus Alert Systems” from the drop-down menu to check information and sign up for text and voice messages.
Parents cannot sign up to receive RazALERT notifications, as it is most important for those messages to be sent to everyone on campus immediately to ensure timely notification. During any emergency situation additional information and updates are available on the U of A homepage. Viewing this page, and monitoring the University’s official social media accounts are the best ways for parents to stay informed of campus emergencies or inclement weather.
The University of Arkansas also utilizes the Rave Guardian app, developed by Rave Mobile Safety and is available for all Apple or Android smart phones.
“The University of Arkansas is always looking for ways to make our campus safer and more secure,” said Steve Gahagans, director of University Police. “The Rave Guardian app is our latest tool for accomplishing that and it’s one that we hope everyone on campus will use.”
The Guardian app protects students in three basic ways:
- Sending out an emergency call with the push of a button
- Helping create a network of “guardians”
- Allowing anonymous tips to campus safety officials
EMERGENCY CALL
The Guardian app provides smart phones with a “panic button.” With a single touch the app sends an emergency message to University Police, along with a GPS location. The app also creates a secure safety profile with user-provided information. These details also go to the campus 911 center.
This emergency communication is not limited to campus. The Guardian app can message the nearest 911 off campus as well.
GUARDIAN NETWORK
The Guardian app also allows students to create a network that can include friends, family, roommates, and University Police for quick communication when needed. For example — when walking alone on campus, your student can set a safety timer to let their network check in on them. If your student does not arrive safely and deactivate the timer, a profile message is sent immediately to their network.
SENDING TIPS
The Guardian app provides a way to send a quick, anonymous text messages — including photos — directly to University Police if something suspicious is seen on campus.
For more information about campus safety, please visit http://uapd.uark.edu/.