The university has implemented a system for reaching students via text messages on their cell phones in a time of emergency on campus.

“If we had something that was going to be a danger to the public, we would use it for that,” said MSU Police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor. “It’s only going to be used in life-threatening situations, such as if there was a railroad chemical spill, an active shooter, or tornado warnings for campus or the East Lansing area.”

The program, called ETXT, was created by John Prush, Michigan State Police records and technology manager. The system comes at no cost to students unless students do not receive text messages for free on their cell phone plans. If students do not have text messages, the site allows a user to add an e-mail address as well.

In an e-mail to the student body, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said other forms of response in an emergency situation would include radio, e-mail, television and Reverse 911 calls – a program that telephones students, alerting them of emergencies.

“Where Reverse 911 comes in, we can target certain areas,” McGlothian-Taylor said. “We also have individuals that are trained in the buildings. It’s close to 200 university employee emergency team leaders or contacts for campus buildings.”

Because the system was created internally, it is more convenient for the university and the department, and it solves the university up to millions of dollars, McGlothian-Taylor said.

Central Michigan University police Chief Stanley A. Dinius said systems his department has considered from vendors can cost anywhere from $400,000.

“We have a city-watch notification system which is a phone-calling system,” Dinius said. “You preprogram numbers in and it calls them quickly when you put in a code and message. We’re looking at a whole slew of options. We’ve been deluged with vendors trying to sell us emergency contact systems.”

Of the system MSU has in place, Dinius said, “it sounds like a very viable, low-cost solution.”

MSU students can sign up for the program by going to www.police.msu.edu and clicking the “Register for Emergency Text Message Notifications” link. To complete enrollment, students log in and enter up to four cell phone numbers and descriptions for the numbers.

According to the Web site, the police department “tried to identify all the major vendors who provide e-mail to text message conversions.”

McGlothian-Taylor said MSU’s Academic Computing & Network Services allows the system to work off the university’s server, preventing an overload that could come in the situation if a single cell phone provider was used.

Terry Denbow, MSU vice president for university relations, said as far as technology goes, the system utilizes what’s available to the university.

“It’s important for providing rumor control,” he said. “We want people to go to the credible place. It’s our obligation to provide immediate and credible information.”

Joey Nowak can be reached at nowakjo2@msu.edu.