Sign-up would be required for alerts
Published April 1, 2008
In an effort to get more students signed up for the MU alert system, the Missouri Students Association will propose an opt-out option instead of the current required registration for the service.
As the alert system stands now, students must sign up for the service, which calls or text messages students in case of an emergency. Of MU’s student population, 19 percent are registered for a cell phone alert and 7 percent of students are registered for a text message alert.
MSA President Jim Kelley said MSA wants to change the process so instead of students having to go to myZou to sign up, students would provide their contact information unless they choose to opt out of the program.
“Ultimately if we follow through with an opt-out program instead of an opt-in option, we’ll have a better number of students enrolled and that better number will lead to a more prepared campus in the event of an emergency,” Kelley said.
He said freshmen could be automatically enrolled at Summer Welcome, but they would be allowed to opt out if they didn’t wish to enroll.
He said he would be meeting with Summer Welcome organizers Wednesday to discuss the possibility.
Kelley said the real challenge lies in signing up current students. Kelley said he was working with the Division of Information Technology, which manages the alert system, and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs to find a solution.
“It’s a matter of finding out what’s going to be feasible,” Kelley said.
He said that he brought up the idea at a Student Leadership Advisory Committee, a group of student leaders. He said student leaders didn’t object to the idea.
The committee includes the editor-in-chief of The Maneater.
Kelley said administrators have so far been receptive to the idea.
“I think that they’re open to the idea,” Kelley said. “We’ll see how that meeting goes, and I anticipate that it’s something we will be able to do.”
Information Technology Director Terry Robb said students couldn’t opt out of receiving emergency alerts through their MU e-mail account, which is automatically enrolled in the alert.
“Effectively, today, there is an opt-out system for cell phone and text messaging by not entering this data into myZou,” Robb said.
He said coding an opt-out system into myZou’s interface would be possible, but MSA had not yet contacted him about doing so.
The office of Chris Koukola, assistant to the chancellor for university affairs, supports DoIT in promoting the emergency alert system to current and prospective students. Koukola said the alert system is a priority, but many students aren’t responding to the promotions.
“I read any article on this that I come across, and I have not read any articles about successful measures to get students, faculty and staff to sign up for this,” she said.
Koukola said recent efforts to promote the system include flyers in new staff members’ orientation packets, and they would distribute similar flyers to new faculty members and students.
She said they would be continuing other promotions to sign up students for the system.