On Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, at approximately 8:00am, the College of Staten Island will conduct a test of the CUNY A!ert System. If you are registered, you need not take any further action at this time, but please read on for more information on what type of messages you may expect to receive.
The CUNY A!ert System permits the University and its member colleges to send messages, warnings, and advisories regarding life and safety issues pertaining to all participating campus communities.
CUNY CIS provides the registration portion of this process through the CUNY Portal, while the State Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is responsible for the back-end NY-Alert notification system, which includes email servers, mass dialers, SMS texting channels, etc. that deliver the actual alerts to CUNY students, faculty, and staff. Students can register to receive notifications about CUNY A!ert incidents. Since the system went live in early 2008 there have been over 165,000 registrations.
If you are not already registered, you can sign up after logging in to the CUNY Portal. Faculty and students who are already registered should verify their personal information including campus or campuses for which they wish to receive notifications, phone number(s), email address(es), and IM and SMS text messages. Also remember to select the “I have read and agree” check box on the last page and then click on the button indicating “I subscribe and agree.” If you complete all other information but neglect the subscription page, you will not be registered.
Faculty and students who are registered and no longer wish to participate can unsubscribe by accessing the same CUNY A!ert application and clicking on the orange “Unsubscribe” tab. Read the text, then select “I have read and agree to the above,” then click on the button indicating “I unsubscribe and agree.”
On the day of the CUNY A!ert test, if you are registered, you should receive an email notification. If you have selected text messaging as a profile option in the CUNY A!ert portlet, you should also receive a text message. Please be aware that your profile determines over which channels (e.g., email, text, phone, IM) you may receive alerts in the event of an actual emergency. Local campus notifiers will also make a selection as to which channels will actually be used for your campus. For this campus test, the only options will be email and text message (if your profile has both enabled). Phone alert messages will not be sent as part of this test.
If you have any further questions, please do the following:
-Check your profile in CUNY A!ert. Are you registered? Is your email address information correct? Have you selected text messaging and is that information correct? Have you completed the subscription page?
-Check the Website FAQs to see if there are any other situations addressed in that document that might apply to your situation.
-If your question is still unanswered, please contact Paul Murtha, the CSI Director of Public Safety, at 718.982.2113 or paul.murtha@csi.cuny.edu.
