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The University of Tennessee

Campus Safety Guide

Frequently Used Tools:



Communication Channels


Communicating During Emergencies

There are several ways emergency personnel and building supervisors can reach members of the campus community during an emergency.  How notifications are made will depend upon the severity of the situation.

UT ALERT

UT ALERT is a text messaging service used to deliver critical messages quickly to students, faculty, and staff in the event of an emergency or during situations that threaten the safety of the campus community. All members of the campus community are encouraged to sign up at www.utk.edu/utalert.

The UT ALERT system will be activated only during serious emergencies. Such circumstances would include: an ongoing safety threat related to a violent crime in which a suspect has not been apprehended; severe weather alerts; weather that would prompt the university to close; and major facilities or grounds problems that require a large-scale evacuation.

Broadcast e-mail and Website

Messages about situations the campus community needs to be aware of will be sent via e-mail from UT Police to all students, faculty, and staff.

In serious emergencies, updates are always placed on the homepage of the campus website at www.utk.edu.

Additional safety messages will also be posted on safety.utk.edu and www.utpolice.org.

Residence Hall Intercoms

All residence halls have an internal address system that allows residence hall managers to communicate with all students in their rooms or apartments in the event of an emergency. The intercom will be used to give students directions during an evacuation or lockdown situation.

Campus Telephones and Voice Messaging

More than 6,000 campus phones have an instant voice message capability that allows the university to deliver a message to every voicemail box at the same time. For this reason, it is critical to check voicemail often.

Campus and Local Media

Serious emergencies are communicated to the two campus radio stations, WUTK (90.3 FM) and WUOT (91.9 FM). The university also distributes information to local media outlets.  The most up-to-date information can be found at www.utk.edu. Emergencies unfold at a fast pace and media reports may be incomplete at first.

One-to-one communication and UTPD loud speakers

Depending on the campus location and the severity of the situation, UTPD or a building supervisor may ask occupants to evacuate the building or to “lock down” or “shelter in place.”

The fire alarm may also be activated to notify occupants that an emergency situation is occurring.

UTPD officers may also utilize their in-car loudspeaker to make announcements and emergency commands to large crowds either outside or near doors and windows of a building.

Depending on which building is involved, intercom systems may not be in place so it is important to listen for other instructions that may be delivered by police.

Unless you are involved in the actual emergency, do not call 911 or 974-3111. It is vital that these lines remain open and available for those who are involved in the actual emergency so police and emergency personnel can assist them as promptly as possible. Seek information via www.utk.edu , or wait for information to be delivered to you from the other sources.