COLUMBIA - Registration for the University of Missouri System's emergency mass notification system for its campuses can now be updated online on the same Web site where students manage their class enrollment and financial information.
The first time MU students log into MyZou each after Aug. 1, Jan. 1 and June 1, they will be able to provide their contact information on the opening screen, a UM System news release stated.
"By developing a screen on our student systems ... we hope to make the process more top of mind and increase participation in the 3N system," said UM System Vice President for Information Technology Gary Allen in the release.
The 3N InstaCom Campus Alert System is a mass notification service based out of California that the UM System uses.
"While we hope to never have to use the 3N system to alert students to an emergency on one of our campuses, having their contact information is essential to notifying them and increasing the opportunity to keep them safe," Allen said in the release.
The UM system began using the notification system in September 2007 in response to violence on college campuses such as the Virginia Tech shootings in April 2007.
In the event of a campus emergency, those registered receive information via phone calls, pages, texts and e-mails. Emergencies include natural disasters and technological or human events that may endanger the health or safety of people on campus, the release said.
University e-mail addresses are automatically registered, but students and faculty are encouraged to register their cell phone numbers as well.
Students can use MyZou to update emergency contact information at any time.
In July, the number of registered student cell phone numbers on all four UM campuses rose to 31.5 percent from 21.25 percent in December 2007.