The UH Public Information Emergency Response System performed almost flawlessly during last week’s University closure in anticipation of Tropical Storm Humberto, officials said.
The main problem with the alerts was caused by outdated student contact information Vice President of Plant Operations Dave Irvin said.
"Some messages were sent back as undeliverable," he said. "In general, yes, it was successful; we were able to get the word out much quicker than we were before, to a lot more people and to a lot more devices than before."
The PIER system is linked to contact information stored in PeopleSoft 8.9 and can send alerts through e-mails, voice messages and text messages.
Beginning in May, Irvin encouraged students to log into their PeopleSoft accounts and make sure their contact information is current and complete.
"We can contact you as many different places as you’d like to be. If you’d like to be sure you get the message, make sure that you enter all of that potential information," he said.
Many students said they at least received an e-mail from the University informing them of the closures. Those who didn’t receive notification said word of mouth traveled just as fast, or faster.
"I know a couple of my friends got text messages, but I didn’t get anything," education junior Erin McDaniel said, but she still heard about the closure. "I think it’s a pretty good job. Word of mouth travels pretty fast – I found out."
Although biomedical technology sophomore Shahad Nawab received no communication about the closure from the University, a friend called and informed her of the closure.
Nawab said she has not filled in her contact information in PeopleSoft, and that if she had she would have been better informed.
"I didn’t know about the notification thing," she said. "I just needed to put my information in the database."
Business junior Anthony Truong said he received notification about the closures in class and through e-mail, and that the system worked well as long as it has enough advance warning.
"I think they’re doing a good job e-mailing and stuff… if it was within less than an hour period," he said. "It’s understandable it would take a little while."
UH Police Chief Malcolm Davis told The Daily Cougar last week that PIER takes about an hour to an hour and a half to send approximately 30,000 alerts to the entire campus.
"No system can send out that many at once," he said.
Social Work graduate student Michelle Tate said the system would not have worked as well in a sudden, unexpected situation.
"Fortunately I checked my e-mail. If it was a real emergency, I wouldn’t know," she said. "I don’t know what they can do other than letting key people know and putting signs up around campus."
University Studies freshman Catherine Gallagher said she had plenty of warning the school planned to close, but said many of her classmates were confused about when to return – especially those with 11:30 a.m. classes that normally run past noon, the time UH re-opened Thursday.
"It wasn’t clear to a lot of students when they had to go back," she said, and several e-mailed or messaged her for guidance. "I think they had a difficult time figuring out if they showed up or not."
Gallagher said that professors could have gone a long way to reduce confusion by informing students of changes in due dates, classes and tests caused by the closure.
"It would be nice to have some reassurance," she said.
Although the system worked well, Irvin said, UH will continue to work toward making it better.
"The main improvements we are looking at are trying to improve the database, make sure we have proper contacts for everyone, improve the speed a little bit," he said. "We see emergency preparedness as a journey, not a destination. We’re always looking to find out, are there new ways we can become better prepared?"
Irvin said the University expects to implement campus-wide alert systems including emergency sirens, PA systems and devices that would receive a kind of text message in buildings, classrooms and labs sometime within the next year to alert students, faculty and staff to seek further information.
Officials cannot predict exactly when the systems would go in place, as many schools purchasing similar systems have created a shortage, he said.
"Part of the problem is lead time on that," he said. "After Virginia Tech, everybody tried to order those. We ordered several, but the factory has a huge back-up."
Although Tropical Storm Humberto was one of the most serious potential situations in which UH has used PIER, Irvin said, it was far from the first.
"We started doing testing of it back in the early part of this year, and then in March, April did some more extensive alerts, and that’s when we first used it for some flooding," he said.
During emergency situations, key personnel and staff remain on campus to take care of problems that arise, Irvin said. For instance, several custodial workers, mechanical personnel and police remained on campus during the University’s closures Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Custodian Rosantina Estrada said she worked her regular shift Thursday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
"They say in case of an emergency we need to be here so we can help in those things," she said. "I was here in the morning… just normal hours."
During emergency situations, Estrada receives alerts to her cell-phone. Although not all staff workers have phones, she said, they all look out for each other.
"We pass the word," she said.
If an emergency situation escalates beyond a certain point, Irvin said, all but a small core of personnel are evacuated from campus as part of the emergency management plan, which goes into action during natural disasters or incidents.
"(Last week) we were looking primarily at flooding. If we were looking at a hurricane that would be of a higher power, than we would have a team of very, very (few) people who would stay and batten down the hatches," he said.
UH remains open to student, faculty and staff input on how to improve emergency communication, Irvin said.
"We certainly welcome students and faculty to contact me. We’d love to consider those and we’re always open for new suggestions," he said.
Irvin said he can be contacted at [email protected].
