Providence, R.I.--The first Connect-ED emergency notification test was sent out by the Office of Safety and Security to the entire College community on October 27.

The results show the test reached 94 percent of students, faculty, and staff via cellular phone voice message, text message, and/or e-mail. The six percent--or 288 out of 4,660--that failed to receive a message will be identified and their contact information will be updated, said Koren Kanadanian, director of emergency management.

The Connect-ED system was implemented last academic year to allow the Office of Safety and Security to quickly notify the College community of an emergency. Contact numbers for all PC students, faculty, and staff were gathered by the Office of Residence Life or the College's Banner software system and have been entered in a database.

When information or instructions are sent through any of the emergency communications methods, all members of the campus community are advised to follow the specific instructions provided in that broadcast.

Prior to the recent test, Kanadanian noted that the system was tested a few times during the last academic year, but only to students.

"For the number of people we were contacting this time, I'm very pleased with how the test worked," he said. "We'll be sure to update the six percent that came in as bad numbers."

Kanadanian said any students who failed to receive the latest test alert need to update their information in the Office of Academic Records in Harkins Hall Room 207.

In addition to the Connect-ED alerts, Kanadanian noted other methods in which the Office of Safety and Security can notify the campus in case of an emergency. These include alerts that can be sent through half of the emergency "blue light" telephones located throughout campus.

Twenty-five of these telephones have been or are being re-engineered to include a new "red light" signal and audible message capability that can be activated to alert students, faculty, and staff of a campus-wide emergency and send an audible message with instructions about what immediate actions individuals should take.

In addition, the College can use the campus radio and television communications systems to issue emergency messages. Also, campus security vehicles have been retrofitted with public address systems to enable broadcast of emergency alerts and instructions.

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