FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There is a chance of snow in this week’s weather forecast, which makes this a good time for students, faculty and staff to upgrade their status on the University of Arkansas RazALERT system. Whenever inclement weather is severe enough to affect university operations, messages will be sent through the system’s Inclement Weather Notification channel to everyone on campus who is signed up to receive them. These messages will be the earliest possible official notices from the university, telling the campus community whether classes and offices will be closed, or if there will be a delayed opening.

RazALERT (pronounced “raise-alert”) is a communication system for sending important messages to as many members of the campus community as possible. Students, faculty and staff are automatically enrolled in RazALERT through their campus accounts — students in ISIS and faculty and staff in BASIS — and they will automatically receive email messages from the system.

For even faster notification students can designate one phone number to receive a text message and as many as six phone numbers to receive voice messages — if, for example, they want other family members to receive the emergency message. Students can change their settings by logging into ISIS and choosing “Campus Alert Systems” from the drop-down menu under the “Personal Information” section.

Faculty and staff can specify up to three phone numbers for the alerts and decide whether they want a voice message or text for each. Faculty and staff can find their settings in the “My Personal Data” portion of their BASIS account and click on “Addresses, etc.” for the RazALERT options.

Before adding a family member, such as a parent or spouse who is not on campus, it’s a good idea to get permission, so that person knows he or she will be getting an emergency message, sometimes very early in the morning.

More information about the emergency notification system is available at the RazALERT website. The university provides additional emergency information at its emergency preparedness website. This second site posts all RazALERT messages and is the prime source for updated information about any emergency or inclement weather situation. This site also includes contact information for all campus and local emergency services, a review of the university’s emergency procedures, useful tips on what to do in a wide assortment of emergency situations, and complete information about the RazALERT system.