On Monday, November 14, at 2 p.m. (Eastern time), UNCP will conduct a campus-wide test of its emergency notification system.

The test is to ensure that members of the university community can be contacted during a campus crisis or emergency.    

For more information, please visit the Brave Alert website at www.uncpalert.com. The UNCP notification system includes PIER (a web-based emergency notification system including text messaging), CityWatch (an automated telephone system) and sirens. The test will include sirens, phone calls, emails and text messages.

This semi-annual test of the UNCP Emergency Alert Notification System (UNCP- EANS) allows new members of the campus community to become familiar with the system. The test also is an opportunity to encourage all faculty, staff and students to update their contact information.

UNCP- EANS allows campus administrators to notify the entire campus of emergency situations, or to send targeted messages to individuals in a specific building or department for alerts that do not concern the entire campus. Depending on the severity of the emergency, simultaneous alerts can be sent to individuals through landline phones, cellular phones, text messaging and email.

During the November 14th test, campus administrators will use the notification system to send simultaneous alerts through landline phones, cellular phones, text messaging and email beginning at 12 p.m.

The November 14 test message will begin by stating: "This is a test of the UNCP emergency notification system."  Don’t worry; this will only be a test.

All of the University's approximately 7,500 faculty, staff and students are expected to receive messages within minutes of the distribution to various groups. As is the case during a true emergency, members of the campus community are strongly encouraged to avoid making phone calls or sending text messages during the test period to avoid unnecessarily delaying important communications. Also, individuals should not respond to the test message.

In the event of an actual emergency, the University will continue to relay critical information using the most appropriate options from a full range of notification resources, such as Web announcements, email, an automated message line, local radio stations, door-to-door notifications and posters. The manner of notification will depend on the nature of the emergency. 

As an additional precaution, it is important for individuals who receive official emergency alerts to share information with others nearby, in case they have not yet received the communication. Individuals also should avoid the use of telephones to prevent overloading the telecommunications system.

For more information about the notification system, visit www.uncp.edu/safety/emergency/notification.html.

UNCP is operating on a normal schedule.