Carleton is currently reviewing its campus-wide crisis communications plan, according to an emailed newsletter sent out to students Nov. 3.
Students will be invited to participate in focus groups and provide feedback on the communications system in the future, according to the email.
The school currently uses online and social media platforms such as its website and mobile app in order to distribute information in an emergency.
The school also has an Emergency Notification System (ENS), which allows university safety to contact a mass number of people on campus by sending emails to @Connect and @Carleton.ca accounts, and sending text messages to those signed up for the service on Carleton Central.
“We use it in the event that there is an emergency that would affect multiple people or several groups and requires specific action from our students and our community,” said Mark Hargreaves, community liaison for campus safety.
The Department of University Safety did not use its ENS system on Oct. 22 when shootings occurred in downtown Ottawa because it didn’t see a threat specific to the school, Hargreaves said.
“We were monitoring the situation closely,” he said. “We were in contact with the OPS and monitoring how the situation was progressing.”
The last time Carleton’s ENS system was used was in October 2011 when a gas leak occurred on residence, according to Hargreaves.
He said the situation was a low-risk event and was resolved quickly.
The school released a statement almost two hours after the initial shooting advising students living in the downtown core to remain at home and not commute to the university for classes.
Second-year human rights student and downtown resident Madison Irons said she first heard about the downtown lockdown when her stepfather contacted her by phone.
She had planned to go to class that day but decided not to go.
“I had class at 2:30 p.m. and I avoided going to school just because the routes were so different and it seemed kind of sketchy,” she said.
Irons said she didn’t see the school’s release regarding the shooting until later in the afternoon, after checking Carleton Central throughout the day.
She said she would have preferred if the school had used the ENS system so students would’ve been aware of the school’s news release sooner, she said.
“It was a little upsetting,” she said. “I just felt like because I live downtown it would’ve been nice to see my school more involved with this.”
The release itself, she said, wasn’t obvious in its statement. “It wasn’t very clear what they were suggesting for students,” she said.
Irons said she was glad the school was updating its system.
“I think it’s great that they want to update the system though. I think it’s great for students to be aware of what to do beforehand,” she said.
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