Emergency Contact System
Simmons University has multiple systems for alerting our community to campus emergencies. The University contracts with Rave for emergency notifications services. This allows authorized users to send an immediate notification on all or selected members of the Simmons community who have provided emergency notification contact information. Messages about immediate or potential threats to the health or safety of members of the community can be simultaneously sent to on-campus phones, cell phones (voice and text), home phones, emergency contact phones, and multiple e-mail addresses. All members of the Simmons community are requested regularly to provide updated emergency contact information so that they can receive messages from the emergency notification system.
Updating Emergency Notifications Information
- Login to Simmons Workday
- Navigate to Personal Information > Emergency Contacts
- Click Edit to edit or add an emergency contact with the relationship of Simmons Alert - Friends and Family.
- You may list mobile phones, landline phones, and email addresses that should receive Simmons Alert notifications.
The emergency notification system will only be activated for emergency situations that pose an immediate threat to the health or safety of students, faculty, and staff on campus, or when there is an event that requires closing the campus or limiting access (e.g., severe weather). The emergency notification system will NOT be used to send message about criminal activity in the area unless the crime presents an immediate threat to safety on campus. However, Simmons Public Safety will issue timely safety alerts through the campus e-mail system to keep the Simmons community informed about crimes that represent a serious or ongoing threat to the community. These alerts will proved pertinent information related to the crime and suspect, will seek information that may lead to arrest and conviction of the offender(s), and will provide safety tips for the Simmons community.
The decision to issue an emergency notification system message is typically made by the Simmons University Emergency Management Council (EMC) co-chairs, the Assistant Vice President for Administration, and the Dean of Student Life, in consultation with Public Safety. Several additional senior administration officials are trained in the emergency notification system so that they are able to issue a message should an emergency situation require them to do so, including the Registrar, Executive Director of Technology/Chief Information Officer, Director of Public Safety, and Assistant Director of Public Safety. Executive leadership, including the President, Senior Vice President for
Finance and Administration, and the Provost, are included in the decision to send a message if time permits. Depending on the type of emergency, Public Safety and/or members of the EMC will confirm the situation and determine the appropriate segment(s) of the campus community to receive the notification. A decision will then be made on the content of the notification and the notification will be initiated.
Simmons University will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the emergency message and initiate the emergency messaging system, unless issuing a message will, in the judgment of the Simmons University Public Safety Department of other responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to complain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency situation.
In addition to the emergency notification system, Simmons Public Safety and the EMC may rely on other communication systems to provide information regarding an emergency situation, including:
- Simmons website
- Public address systems where available
- Simmons e-mail system
- Simmons public safety vehicle public address systems and sirens
- Bullhorns maintained by Public Safety
- Simmons main switchboard (617-521-2000)
- Desktop Notification
- Social Media
- Media outlets including local television and radio systems
- TV monitors in certain campus building lobbies
- Notices posted in central locations in all campus buildings