e2 Campus

Students at Florida A&M aren’t taking advantage of the e2 campus emergency alert system.
The system has been in place at FAMU since 2005, two years before the Virginia Tech massacre. Although the service is licensed for 10,000 users but fewer than 3,000 active users are registered for the system.
“More of the employees are signed up than students,” said Lt. Angela Kirkland of FAMU PD.”Students don’t know the value of the system.”
FAMU’s e2  is a self-service, web-based and mass notification system to transmit emergency messages to students, faculty, staff and even parents. It’s designed for FAMU law enforcement to dispatch  alerts quickly about situations that occurred on or near campus. On a Friday night this month, e2 broadcast two alerts about Palmetto: one told students to avoid the area because of a shooting and the other was an “all-clear.”
“FAMU was the first school in Florida to be proactive and receive the system,” said Sgt. Sherri Luke of the FAMU Crime Prevention Unit.  
Students can subscribe by visiting FAMU’s homepage or www.e2campus.net.
Students are informed about the service during orientation, move-in day and throughout the semester.
“I heard about e2 campus from one of my colleagues but don’t know how to access it,” said Phillip Washington, a senior pre- physical therapy student.
“A lot of students don’t sign up,” explained Luke. “We give them the tools but it’s their choice to use it.”
FAMU PD hopes to inform subscribers about incidents within five minutes of the report.  Dispatchers and police officers send alerts then confirm the incident by investigating the scene. E2 campus also alerts users about weather conditions and possible natural disaster on campus.  
“The overall system has good intentions; however, from my experience, I have received emergency notifications one or two days following the actual incident,” said Chartzi Spell, 22, a senior finance student.
“If we are sending the message in a timely manner, it [the tardiness] can be your service provider,” Luke said when asked about the concerns of delayed messages.
The goal of the Crime Prevention Unit goal is to target students when they register for class, hoping to increase the number of students registered in the system. A new program with Student Government Association titled “Text It, Tell It” is on the table as well.
Students would be allowed to reply after receiving an alert from e2 campus.
“The e2 campus system works and it saves lives,” said Kirkland.