For immediate use
UNC-Chapel Hill completes successful emergency siren test
University sends text messages to nearly 47,000 student, employee cell phones; sends approximately 56,000 emails to student, employee accounts
(Chapel Hill, N.C. – August 26, 2015) – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill today successfully tested its emergency sirens as well as text-message delivery as part of the Alert Carolina safety awareness campaign.
The sirens sounded an alert tone along with a brief pre-recorded public address message. The test siren activation was followed by two test text messages – one for when the sirens first sounded and another for the “all clear” – to cell phone numbers registered by students, faculty and staff to receive Alert Carolina messages.
Text messages also were sent to more than 47,000 unique cell phone numbers registered to students, faculty and staff, with 90 percent of the siren activation messages delivered within approximately five minutes. That means 183 messages, on average, were delivered per second. The “all clear” text was delivered in just under five minutes.
In addition, the University sent approximately 56,000 emails to student and employee accounts for both the initial siren activation and “all clear.” The send time for delivery of 90 percent of the test messages was approximately 12 minutes and for the “all clear” messages, approximately 11 minutes. University officials constantly work to improve delivery times for Alert Carolina messages.
The sirens are located at Hinton James Residence Hall off Manning Drive; the Gary R. Tomkins Chilled Water Operations Center behind the Dogwood Parking Deck; Winston Residence Hall at the corner of Raleigh Street and South Road; near Hill Hall behind University Methodist Church; and next to University buildings and support facilities near the Giles Horney Building off Martin Luther King Boulevard; as well as at the Friday Center, located east of central campus.
The sirens sound only for a major emergency or an immediate safety or health threat such as:
• An armed and dangerous person on or near campus;
• A major chemical spill or hazard;
• A tornado warning for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area issued by the National Weather Service; or
• A different emergency, as determined by the Department of Public Safety.
The federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act requires universities to annually test emergency response procedures. UNC-Chapel Hill tests the operation of the emergency sirens at the beginning of each fall and spring semester. Campus officials regularly update response and communications plans based on lessons learned during an annual full-scale emergency preparedness drill (most recently conducted on Monday, Aug. 10), the siren tests and actual events.
University officials emphasize that sirens and text messages are just part of a multi-layered approach to emergency communications. Those efforts are anchored by alertcarolina.unc.edu. The University also communicates through other means including official social media accounts; campus-wide email and voice mail (only for campus land lines); the Adverse Weather and Emergency Phone Line, 919-843-1234, for recorded information; and the University Access Channel (Chapel Hill Time Warner Cable Channel 4) along with other campus cable television channels.
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About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 78 bachelors, 112 master’s, 68 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty, staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 308,000 alumni live in all 50 states and 150 countries. More than 167,000 live in North Carolina.
Communications and Public Affairs: (919) 445-8555, mediarelations@unc.edu