Modesto Junior College is launching an emergency communications system called AlertU that will allow the college to send emergency text messages to students, faculty and staff who opt into the system. AlertU will allow MJC to broadcast critical information in real time to mobile devices, which in an emergency situation can be particularly important for people who may be in or near a crisis zone.

“We need the help of students and staff to improve the safety of our college community,” said Becky Crow, Director of Campus Safety. “In an effort to enhance our emergency communications during crisis situations, we are asking students and staff to sign up for the AlertU emergency messaging platform.”

AlertU is available to all students, staff and faculty who have a cell phone or other mobile device that can receive text messages. While the AlertU service is free, those enrolling will be subject to the standard text message rates of their cellular service plan when receiving emergency messages and the quarterly system test messages. AlertU is already being successfully used as an emergency communications tool by a number of community colleges in California.

This system will be most effective if a large number of members of the MJC campus community are signed up. Signing up can be accomplished by texting from a cell phone or going online to www.alertu.org/mjc and following simple steps which take less than a minute to complete. To sign up from a cell phone text to 253788 and put “MJC” in the message, and when you receive back the message, “Please join MJC’s Emergency Alert System. No spam. Reply Y to sign up,” simply reply with a Y to complete the enrollment.

“For this service to be successful, it is imperative to get all of our registered students, staff and faculty signed up,” stated Crow. “Please help us by signing up right away and by encouraging your fellow students or staff to sign up.”

After enrolling in the AlertU system, students and staff are encouraged to program ‘253788’ into their phone contact list (address book) as ‘AlertU’ so you will recognize messages as critical alerts from MJC when they are sent out. No phone numbers or personal information will ever be shared with anyone and those enrolling will not receive mobile spam. Only MJC College Administrators will have access to the alerting system, and the AlertU system will only be used for quarterly system tests and in the event of an emergency or crisis.