Emergency notifications will be sent via text to students and staff ( Photo: Christopher King )

Should a major fire or armed intruder ever force Carleton into a state of emergency, students and staff will be notified instantaneously via text message, e-mail and flashing messages on campus-wide computer screens.

The university has invested $350,000 in an emergency notification system (ENS), which was unveiled Aug. 7 and is “the most comprehensive of its kind,” according to a university press release.

“It’s always reassuring to see the university taking a proactive role in campus safety, so we are very pleased,” said Carleton University Students’ Association vice-president (student issues) Nick Bergamini. “Obviously we hope that the new system won’t ever need to be used, but it certainly is good to have in the case of any incidents.”

When activated, the system locks thousands of on-campus computers and delivers an on-screen message to users, mass e-mails nearly 27,000 registered Carleton Connect accounts and text messages students and staff who have voluntarily provided the university with their mobile phone number.

“We’re not talking about locks on doors, what we’re talking about here is a message going out to our community in kind of a flash,” said Len Boudreault, director of university safety, in an interview with CTV News. “So what we want to do is advise the community, using a three-tiered approach, that there is a situation on campus that they need to pay attention to and avoid.”

Boudreault is the only authority that can trigger the notification.

Carleton worked with IT-communications companies Mitel and Benbria to develop the system.

The response has been “overpowering,” Boudreault said, and institutions from across Canada and the United States have expressed interest in the system.

This is the second year in a row the university has made a major investment in campus safety and security. Last August, Carleton spent $1.6 million on CCTV cameras, swipe card locks for certain buildings, assistance phones and other measures the university said were aimed at “creating a culture of safety.”

Carleton plans to test the new system on Sept. 25 and is offering a chance to win one of six $500 cash prizes to faculty, staff and students who provide their cellphone number to the university by Sept. 23.

12,000 students and staff have already submitted their number, said Boudreault.