1. What is Loyola Alert?
Loyola Alert provides personalized, time-sensitive alerts to students, faculty, staff and other personnel in the event of threats to physical safety in emergency situations at the lakeside campuses, including, but not limited to: barricade/hostage situations; widespread and threatening weather conditions; national civil emergencies; terrorist, active shooter, or other violent acts; and health emergencies as ordered by public health authorities.
Loyola Alert messages are supplementary to the University’s emergency communications sent to all Loyola e-mail addresses. Loyola Alert requires participants to register in order to receive special notifications to personal cell phones, landlines, or e-mail addresses. Loyola Alert is built upon the Connect-ED® System, developed specifically for schools, colleges and universities by Blackboard, Inc through a service called Blackboard Connect.
2. How does Loyola Alert work?
Loyola Alert allows the University to send emergency messages to students, faculty, and staff who have opted in via personal contact points: cell phone, landline phone, e-mail. You must register to receive messages from Loyola Alert.
Loyola Alert will immediately send messages to registered participants via the following communication channels:
When a threat to the campus community is identified, Loyola leadership will be able to simultaneously send messages directly to registered participants. In conjunction with Loyola Alert, the University installed a series of notification towers equipped with sirens and voice alert systems that also will help ensure that those on campus hear alerts and warnings.
Members of the campus community are notified by whatever contact information they’ve provided during their online registration. For example, a staff member might be notified simultaneously by personal e-mail and cell phone.
3. For what types of emergencies will I be notified by Loyola Alert?
Loyola Alert may be used in various situations, including those that are life and safety threatening and unusually severe weather.
4. Is there a fee to enroll in Loyola Alert?
No, Loyola Alert is free for all registrants. Registrants will only be responsible for fees from their cell phone provider for incoming messages.
5. What phone number will I see on my Caller ID when I receive a Loyola Alert call? I want to program that number into my phone.
Loyola Alert message calls will come from 773.508.6039. We recommend that you program a unique and audible ringtone for calls coming from this number, especially if you normally have your cell phone on vibrate. Your cell phone provider should be able to share instructions on how to do this on your phone model.
6. How can I submit my emergency contact information so I can receive Loyola Alert messages?
A registration page has been set up at LUC.edu/alert.
7. When registering for Loyola Alert, may I include contact information for a spouse or significant other, or parent(s), so that they’ll be alerted during emergencies?
When a Loyola community member registers for Loyola Alert, there are options to include additional contact numbers that can be listed under the individual’s account.
8. What is the timeframe in which I should expect to receive a Loyola Alert?
Circumstances will vary, including the size of the notification audience, the time of day, etc. However, most emergency alerts by phone should arrive minutes after being initiated. E-mail alerts serve largely as a backup or supplemental mechanism and typically take longer to be delivered.
9. How can Loyola Alert reach thousands of people in just minutes?
Blackboard Connect's mass notification engine supports Loyola Alert. Blackboard Connect maintains access to tens of thousands of phone lines originating from multiple locations throughout the United States to ensure that its clients' communications are delivered quickly and efficiently.
10. Who is responsible for declaring an emergency and sending out a Loyola Alert?
Campus Safety will typically initiate emergency notifications.
11. What should I do if I use my cell phone as my home phone number (i.e., I don’t have a landline at home)?
When you register for Loyola Alert, you can input up to four different phone numbers; they do not need to be land lines. In an emergency, duplicate phone numbers are automatically reduced to a single number to be called by the system.
12. Is any contact information required?
Yes, in order to register, the vendor requires all participants to provide a cell phone or landline number.
13. Will Blackboard, Inc. share our contact information with anyone?
No. Blackboard does not sell, lease, share, or rent personally identifiable information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) to any companies or persons outside of Blackboard or Blackboard service providers.
14. How do I use the Loyola Alert system if I’m visually- or hearing-impaired?
Visually-impaired registrants will be able to rely upon the recorded emergency messages by phone, while the hearing impaired can receive text and e-mail messages.
15. Whom can I contact with additional questions?
For more information, contact Thomas K. Murray, Chief of Police and Director of Campus Safety, at 773.508.2398 or tmurray3@luc.edu.