By Emily GlazerThe Daily Northwestern
University officials are considering joining a number of other schools that have implemented text-messaging systems to communicate with students in emergencies.
Several companies offer mass text messaging services to college campuses.
One such company, e2Campus, had 30 subscribing universities three weeks ago, but after the shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, its number of clients increased to about 50, said Bryan Crum, the firm’s director of communications.
“When the tragedy happened at Virginia Tech and all the news showed students on cell phones, that was the big eye opener for colleges and universities across the country,” he said. “(They realized) that their current communication plans are inadequate.”
Northwestern President Henry Bienen told The Daily two weeks ago that the university was looking into alternatives, such as text messaging, to its current system of sending campuswide e-mails, which he called “cumbersome.”
The cost for the e2campus service varies according to the number of users on campus.
The fixed fee is $5,000 for 5,000 users, $9,500 for 10,000 users and $18,000 for 20,000 users per year, Crum said.
Not only are text messages sent in a matter of seconds, but Crum said a school can have its service “up and running” the same day that it signs up.
Plus, Crum cited evidence from one of his company’s clients that more than 15 percent of students’ e-mail inboxes were full and could no longer accept messages.
Currently, e2campus’ clients include Pennsylvania State, Colgate and Syracuse universities, and more recently Skidmore College and Towson University.
Penn State signed up with e2campus to create its PSUTXT service in August, said Annemarie Mountz, the school’s assistant director of public information.
The university uses text messages in addition to a live news Web site and an e-mail-based newswiring system.
“We’re always looking for the newest ways to communicate with people, and we saw that students across campus all had cell phones and a lot of them used text messaging,” she said.
Of the nearly 100,000 undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff at Penn State, there are currently 13,251 subscribers. In February, Penn State only had about 2,200 subscribers, Mountz said.
Students at Penn State can subscribe to this free service and can choose to receive texts relating to sports news, concert announcements or emergencies on any of the university’s 24 campuses, Mountz said.
“We’re looking for ways to make it mandatory so when you enroll, you sign up (for the service) right away,” she said. “But you’re never going to get everybody because there are still people out there who don’t have cell phones and others who don’t want text messages.”
Though the service is free, Mountz said students must still pay the standard text message fee upon receiving the message.
Mountz said they have used the system “roughly 20 times” for alerts, including weather related cancellations, heightened airport security, a water main breakage and major traffic accidents.
Melanie Edelman, a sophomore at Penn State, said she signed up for the service about a day after the Virginia Tech shootings.
Edelman said she expected to get text messages in cases of emergencies or for weather-related announcements.
“I think (the service) is very smart,” she said. “It covers us and it can also help save students.”
Though Edelman said she has not yet received a text message, she said she thinks it is a necessary form of emergency communication.
“Not everyone can get a text message, but at least they have a system set up,” she said.
Reach Emily Glazer at [email protected].
