Emergency Notification Policy

In the event of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of the Tufts community, Tufts University will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the notification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to or otherwise mitigate the emergency. University administrators, led by the Director of Emergency Management, will confirm the emergency, determine the content of the notification, and select the appropriate method(s) of delivery, which may include email, paper postings, or activation of the Tufts Emergency Alert System. In the case of an immediate threat, the University Police supervisor on-duty at the time of the emergency will confirm the threat, determine what alert message to send, and direct a member of the Department of Public Safety to activate the Tufts Emergency Alert System. Messages will be sent to all community members on the affected campus(es), and will contain only a very brief description of the type of emergency along with instructions on how to protect yourself – it’s critical that you follow the instructions immediately. After the initial alert message, additional information may be distributed by another alert message, by email, or by web at http://www.tufts.edu/ and http://emergency.tufts.edu/.

Messages from the Tufts Emergency Alert System are sent to university email accounts and can be sent by text message to wireless phones, and by telephone to any enrolled phone number; however, you must provide your contact information to be included in the system. Members of the community are invited to provide/update their contact information at the beginning of each semester, or may update their contact information at any time by requesting an email invitation. A full scale test of the Tufts Emergency Alert System is performed at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters on a date that is announced by email and in various campus publications.