College of Charleston Police Chief Chip Searson sent the following message to the campus community regarding a planned test of the Cougar Alert emergency notification system on Thursday, March 25, 2021:ย ย
Dear Campus Community,ย
In an effort toย maintain the safety and security of our students, employees and visitors, the College will conduct a test of the Cougar Alertย emergency notificationย systemย at 10 a.m. this Thursday, March 25. You can help us ensure that the technology is working properly byย responding toย the alerts when you receive them.ย Confirmationย instructions will be includedย withย each test message.ย ย
The emergency notifications will be sent to all members of the campus community through email, text, phone andย theย Everbridgeย mobileย app.ย The return e-mail address will be displayed asย โCollege of Charleston,โย and text message will be displayed as 893-61 (campus members may want to add that as a contact),ย and the phone numberย willย display as 843.805.5507.ย
If you do not receiveย aย Cougar Alert after the test is conducted, please go toย https://emergency.cofc.edu/cougaralert/ย for information on updating your contact information. If you haveย technology-relatedย questions or concerns, you can reachย theย CofC Service Deskย by phoneย atย 843.953.3375 or through theย IT Help Portal atย https://help.cofc.edu/.ย
Alertusย
The Collegeย will also be testingย aย newย system calledย Alertusย during this test of the emergency notification system.ย When the College issues aย Cougar Alert, allย campusย computer workstations and laptops running theย Alertusย system will display a full-screen pop-up alert providing messaging about theย Cougar Alertย on campus.ย Users will needย to click โacknowledgeโ on the screen to remove the full-screenย Alertusย notification.ย The test messages will also appear on digital display screens throughout campus.ย Theseย pop-up alerts are in addition to those the campus will receiveย byย email, text,ย phoneย and the Everbridge appย andย areย not meant to replace these notifications.ย ย
Cougar Alerts for Non-CofCย Community Membersย
Parents, visitors, prospective students, community members, downtown businesses and others who wish to receive Cougar Alerts can opt-in to receive notifications by texting the wordย cougaralertย to 333111. Message and data rates may apply. Opt-in users can also receive Cougar Alerts by email. To receive alerts by email, reply to the Everbridge confirmation text with your email address.ย
Thank you for helping to keep the College ofย Charlestonย community safeย and informed.ย
Sincerely,ย ย
Chip Searson
Chief of Police
College of Charlestonย
