Get These Campus Safety Apps

Download and use these two personal safety apps for campus to help protect yourself.

• Aggie Guardian features a virtual safety escort, the ability to text tips to the UC Davis Police Department and access to create a "Smart911" emergency profile.
• SchoolDude CrisisManager provides campus-specific information and instructions for emergency situations.

Limited to those with ucdavis.edu email accounts

The campus has added a feature to its emergency notification system to promote the safety of campus visitors and those working and studying at two remote locations.

Contractors, vendors and other visitors can now subscribe to get — by text only — the same WarnMe and Aggie Alert messages sent to the campus community. As well, designated employees at Bodega Marine Laboratory at Bodega Bay and at the Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village, Nevada,  will be able to issue emergency notifications specific to their people and locations.

Safety Services on campus is introducing the notification feature during National Preparedness Month, a September public awareness campaign of the Department of Homeland Security.

To protect campus visitors

“On any given day, hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors come to campus,” said Clement Stokes, director of emergency management and mission continuity. “We want to help them stay safe, too.”

He said visitors come to enjoy cultural, educational and sporting activities; provide goods and services; and explore the campus as prospective students and employees.

WarnMe and Aggie Alert were once limited to those with ucdavis.edu email addresses. Since 2015, parents and others have been able to sign up at the WarnMe community page to receive the text and email notifications.

The new feature allows anyone to register more simply by text message to receive text messages only. Users can unsubscribe at any time. If a user does not act on an offer to renew the subscription after 12 months, it will expire.

WarnMe provides timely information and instructions during emergencies. Aggie Alert provides notifications about fast-moving events that may disrupt normal campus activities.

Campus units encouraged to share with visitors

Julianne Nola, interim director of major capital projects for Design and Construction Management, said 100 to 500 contractors are expected to be on campus any given weekday this year to work on more than a dozen big projects. “The option to subscribe for the emergency notifications may be very attractive to them,” she said. 

Stokes said he would be encouraging campus units with lots of visitors — such as Undergraduate Admissions and and Conference and Event Services — to help spread the word about the safety feature.

How to subscribe to the new feature

To subscribe to receive the text messages:

• Visitors to the Davis campus can text UCDALERTS to 67283.
• Employees, students and others at the Bodega Bay and Tahoe facilities can subscribe by texting BMLALERTS or TERCALERTS, respectively, to 67283.

Stokes said students and employees who already have a ucdavis.edu email address are encouraged to add or update personal contact information to WarnMe so emergency messages can be sent to personal devices and email addresses.

About WarnMe and other emergency topics

Learn more about WarnMe, Aggie Alert and other emergency topics at UC Davis. Download a brochure about emergency communications.

WarnMe test and other activities

The campus will test the WarnMe and Aggie Alert system on Nov. 8.

In other emergency preparedness events this fall,

• Safety Services will host training for about 50 campus employees on preparing for and managing emergencies at large sporting events on Oct. 10 and 11.
• The campus community will be encouraged to practice the “Drop, cover and hold on” earthquake safety protocol in the 10th annual Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill at 10:19 a.m. on Oct. 19.
• The Event and Crisis Management Team — about 30 campus leaders who provide executive-level oversight and make strategic decisions during emergencies — will participate in a tabletop emergency exercise on Oct. 20 as part of their ongoing training.