Independent of any decision to activate the EMG, a determination will be made about the issuance of emergency notification messages to the campus community.
Campus Closures
Students, Faculty and Staff will be notified of campus closures utilizing several different channels of communication. The primary channel of notification is JagAlert. JagAlert will attempt to contact members of the campus community by primary phone number, text message AND email. Secondary channels will include notices on the University's website and social media pages (facebook.com/untdallas; twitter.com/untdallas). Local news and media will also be notified of any campus closures.
Policy Statement
Upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the life, safety, or security of the campus community occurring on campus, UNT will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of emergency notification messages and initiate the notification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of responsible authorities (including but not limited to: UNTPD, Dallas PD, and/or Dallas FR), compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency. Some examples of significant emergencies and dangerous situations that could necessitate issuance of an emergency notification message include:
- Major building fire or approaching wildfire
- Public health crisis
- Approaching severe weather (e.g., tornado)
- Gas leak
- Terrorist incident
- Campus violence
- Bomb threat
- Civil unrest
- Explosion
- Nearby hazardous material spill
Confirmation
Confirmation means that a UNT Dallas official(s) has verified that a legitimate emergency or dangerous situation exists. However, this does not necessarily mean that all of the pertinent details are known or are even available. Depending on the situation, confirmation may be achieved from one or more of the following sources:
- Investigation by police officer on duty
- Investigation by Facilities and security staff
- Investigation by Dallas FR and/or Dallas PD
- Dallas County HHS and/or DSHS
- Media reports originating from the incident scene
If the police officer on duty or other responding unit determines through their own investigation or through contact with another source that there exists a credible threat to the life, safety, or security of the campus community, s/he will contact an Authorized Official to inform him/her of the situation and may recommend issuing an emergency notification message to the campus community. In circumstances of public health emergencies, confirmation will be achieved through consultation with Dallas County HHS and/or DSHS in accordance with the procedures described later in this document.