Campus Notifications
Pursuant to the requirements of the Clery Act, the Campus Security Department, or its designee, will immediately notify the campus community upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring on the campus. In those instances, the Campus Security Department, or its designee, 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.
Anyone with information believed to warrant immediate notification should promptly report the circumstances to Campus Security by phone at (618) 374-5111, or in person at the Security Office located in lower Howard Center.
Once information constituting an immediate threat is received, the Campus Security Director or designee, in conjunction with other College administrators, local first responders and/or the National Weather Service, is responsible for confirming whether a significant emergency or dangerous situation exists and, if so, which segment or segments of the campus community will receive the notification, depending upon whether the threat is limited to a particular building or segment of the Principia College community. The Campus Security Director, or designee, is also responsible for activating the emergency notification procedures by developing the content of the message and initiating the notification system(s). The Director will attempt to contact and advise the College President or other administrative team designees in the President's absence but will not delay notification if they are not immediately available.
During any emergency situation the School Messenger System will also be used to notify the Principia College community, via phone message, email notification and text alerts. This School Messenger System will also be used to provide updates during almost any situation where the outdoor emergency warning system has been utilized.
Timely Warnings vs Emergency Notifications
Timely warnings are issued for certain crimes that represent a threat to the safety of students or employees.
Emergency notifications are issued upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on the campus that involves an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees.
What do we notify:
- Tornado
- Hostile Intruder
- Hazardous Release
- Severe Weather
- Health outbreaks
- Other emergencies
How we notify the community:
On the Principia College campus, we have an outdoor emergency warning system, an in-house notifier system and a lightning alert system known as the Weather Bug system. The outdoor emergency warning system utilizes both a voice-announced warning and an electronically produced siren. The siren has different tones and is used in conjunction with specific emergency announcements. The prerecorded voice announcements include: Tornado, Emergency Lockdown, Severe Weather, Hazardous Release, All Clear, No Emergency, Test Message and an End of Test message. The outdoor emergency warning system is located on top of the Howard Center and can also be used as an outdoor public address system to provide campus-wide updates during an incident. In addition to the prerecorded messages, any Campus Security Officer can use the system like a Public Address (P.A.) system and make announcements for specific incidents.
The in-house Notifier System announces emergencies through an in-house P.A. system that is currently in all student housing, all athletic buildings and some academic buildings. This system has several prerecorded messages for the following emergencies: Fire Alarm, Tornado Warning, Emergency Lockdown, All Clear message and a test message. In addition to the prerecorded messages, any Campus Security Officer can use the system like a Public Address (P.A.) system and make announcements for specific incidents.
The Lightning Alert (a.k.a., Weather Bug system) uses a horn and flashing strobe lights on top of both the loop plant, across from the outdoor tennis courts, and the observatory.
What to Expect During an Emergency
The following is what to expect during the above listed emergency situations or informational announcements:
Tornado
When the area is placed under a tornado warning by the National Weather Service, the tornado siren and announcement will be activated by the Campus Security Department. This means a tornado has been spotted in the area of campus and everyone should seek shelter immediately.
When the siren is activated, it will be a steady electronic siren sound for approximately two minutes, followed by this voice message, “Attention! Your attention, please! This is a tornado warning for Principia College. Take cover immediately! This is a tornado warning.” This voice message will repeat twice. The outdoor message will be followed by the in-house Notifier system sending the following message inside all student houses, all athletic buildings, and some of the academic buildings. There will be three beeps and then a message stating, “May I have your attention, please! May I have your attention, please! A tornado warning has been issued for this area. A tornado warning has been issued for this area. Please take all appropriate safety actions at this time. Please stay calm and standby for further instruction.” This message will repeat twice inside the buildings.
When a tornado warning is issued, you should go to the identified tornado shelter area of the building and await further instruction. Further instruction may come via all or some of the following methods: the School Messenger System, an announcement over the outdoor emergency warning system like a P.A. announcement and/or an announcement over the in-house Notifier system.
Once the tornado warning has been lifted, the all-clear will be announced over the outdoor notification system with the following message: “Attention! Your attention please! The emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” The in-house Notifier system will then play three beeps and then make this announcement, “Attention, your attention, please! The building emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The building emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” This message will repeat twice inside all student housing, all athletic buildings, and some of the academic buildings.
Emergency Lockdown (Hostile Intruder)
The emergency lockdown siren and announcement are activated by the Campus Security Department any time there is an identified or confirmed situation on campus of which: 1) the safety and security of students or community members on campus is actively threatened, 2) an active shooter or an armed suspicious person is seen on campus.
When the siren is activated, it will be a wail siren that lasts approximately two minutes followed by this voice message, “Attention! Your attention, please! An emergency lockdown of the Principia College campus has been issued. An emergency lockdown of the Principia College campus has been issued. Proceed immediately to a secure area, take all appropriate safety actions, and wait for further instructions.” This voice message will repeat twice. The outdoor message will be followed by the in-house Notifier system, sending the following message inside all student housing, all athletic buildings, and some of the academic buildings. There will be three beeps and then the message stating, “May I have your attention, please! May I have your attention! An emergency lockdown of the campus has been issued. An emergency lockdown of the campus has been issued. Proceed immediately to a secure area, take all appropriate safety actions, and wait for further instructions.” This message will repeat twice in the buildings.
When an emergency lockdown alarm sounds, you should shelter in place and secure the area you are in as best as possible, including locking any doors that can be locked. Turn your cell phone to vibrate, stay away from the windows and await further instructions. If you are outside and are unable to get to a secure location indoors, head to the surrounding woods, hide there, and await further instructions. Updates in these situations may be sent out via the School Messenger System and/or announced over the outdoor emergency warning system, like a P.A. announcement.
Once the situation has been cleared and the area has been determined to be safe, the following message will be announced over the outdoor emergency warning system: “Attention! Your attention, please! The emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” The in-house Notifier system will then play three beeps and make this announcement, “Attention, your attention, please! The building emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The building emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” This message will repeat twice inside all student housing, all athletic buildings, and some of the academic buildings.
Hazardous Release
The hazardous release announcement is activated by the Campus Security Department any time there is an unexpected and dangerous release of any harmful gas or liquid, which will affect or potentially affect the Principia College campus, or its community members and students. This could be a release on or off campus that we are made aware of and identify as a hazardous situation.
If a hazardous release scenario is identified, the following announcement will be made over the outdoor emergency warning system: “Attention! Your attention, please! There has been a hazardous chemical release in the area. Seek shelter indoors immediately. Please stay calm and standby for further instructions.” Further instruction may come via all or some of the following methods: the School Messenger System, an announcement over the outdoor emergency warning system, like a P.A. announcement and/or an announcement over the in-house Notifier system.
Once the situation has been cleared, and the area has been determined to be safe, the following message will be announced over the outdoor emergency warning system: “Attention! Your attention, please! The emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” The in-house Notifier system will then play three beeps and make this announcement: “Attention, your attention, please! The building emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The building emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” This message will repeat twice inside all student housing, all athletic buildings, and some of the academic buildings.
Severe Weather
The severe weather announcement is activated by the Campus Security Department any time the National Weather Service has issued a severe weather alert, which includes high and damaging winds, hail, lightning, or flash flooding for the area of the college campus. This would be an event that would affect community members outside, who would need to seek immediate shelter.
If a severe weather scenario is identified, a preannouncement tone will play over the outdoor emergency warning system followed by this announcement: “Attention! Your attention, please! A severe thunderstorm is approaching the Principia College campus. Seek shelter now for possible high winds, hail, lightning, and flash flooding.”
Once the situation has been cleared, and the area has been determined to be safe, the following message will be announced over the outdoor emergency warning system: “Attention! Your attention, please! The emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” The in-house Notifier system will then play three beeps and make this announcement: “Attention, your attention, please! The building emergency condition has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities. The building emergency has been cleared. You may return to your normal activities.” This message will repeat twice inside all student housing, all athletic buildings, and some of the academic buildings.
Due to the relatively fast nature of these types of severe weather events, the School Messenger System will not be used to announce the event but may be used to relay important information after the event has passed.
Monthly Testing
Campus Security tests the outdoor emergency warning system on the first Tuesday of the month at 11:30 a.m. during the daily scheduled academic 'open time'. This time was chosen in collaboration with the Academic Dean's Office so as not to be disruptive to classes, yet occupy a time where students are likely to hear the siren, take notice, and familiarize themselves with the various alternating messages. The test starts with the test message announcement followed by one of the above emergency announcement cycles. They conclude with an all-clear announcement followed by the end of test announcement.
The regular testing mode will be conducted in the following order, alternating between the outdoor emergency warning system and indoor emergency Notifier System:
- An announcement is made over the outdoor emergency warning system: “Attention! Your attention, please! This is a test of the Principia College emergency warning system. This is only a test.” This will be followed by the electronic tornado siren. It then plays one of the prerecorded emergency warning messages twice.
- Next the in-house Notifier system will beep three times and announce: “May I have your attention, please! This is a test of the Principia College Emergency Voice Message System. In an emergency, specific safety instructions are broadcast via this loudspeaker system. This is only a test!” The in-house Notifier then plays one of the prerecorded emergency announcements several times.
- After both systems have cycled through their respective test messages, the outdoor emergency warning system announces the 'all clear' message indicating it is safe to return to normal activities, followed by the 'end of test ' message: “This concludes the test of the Principia College emergency warning system. This was only a test."
- The in-house Notifier then does the same.
No Emergency
If there is an accidental activation of the new outdoor emergency warning system, Campus Security will announce the following message over the warning system: “Attention! Your attention, please! There is no emergency. Please disregard the last warning message. There is no emergency.” This will repeat twice over the outdoor emergency warning system.
Weather Bug System
The lightning alert system, or the Weather Bug System, is controlled by a lightning detection system, which detects lightning strikes within a predetermined distance of the campus, currently set at a 10-mile circumference from the center of campus. The system can also be activated manually but will usually activate automatically when lightning is detected. This system is run by a coordinated effort between the Athletic Department and the Life Safety Department. It is meant to alert sports teams on or in the Athletic facilities that lightning is in the area, and to communicate the need to move inside a safe structure. The system uses two means of notification: 1) a horn/siren and 2) a flashing strobe light. The horn/siren only activates between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., however the strobe light activates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The horn/siren and strobe light activate when lightning is detected, with the strobe staying on in flashing mode until no lightning is detected for 30 minutes. During hours when the horn/siren is deactivated, the strobe will still be activated in flashing mode and stay on until no lightning has been detected for 30 minutes. When no lightning has been detected for 30 minutes, the system will sound the “all clear”, which is the horn/siren sounding three bursts. The following files provide audio of the horn/siren alerting the detection of lightning, as well as the “all clear” horn/siren. Please listen to hear the differences between the two.
Any time these announcements are made, or the sirens are sounded—outside of the monthly testing—it should be treated as a real event and appropriate measures should be taken. If you see any event occurring prior to any emergency notification being announced, please contact the gate house at (618) 374-5111 or EXT. 5111, or call 911, depending on the emergency.
