New students eligible for WiscAlerts-Text

New students attending SOAR this summer are encouraged to enroll in WiscAlerts-Text, the university’s emergency text-messaging system.

Students can enroll immediately upon arriving on campus, during any part of SOAR or after they return home for the remainder of the summer. Around the start of the semester, there will be additional reminders for students who have not yet signed up.

Students can visit the My UW portal for all of the details.

The service is free, but students must have a phone or plan that can receive text messages, and students will be responsible for normal SMS charges from their cellular provider. WiscAlerts-Text will be reserved for the highest level of emergency and will never be used for advertisements or spam.

The service, which is only available to UW–Madison students, faculty, staff and affiliates, will be used to send messages to warn of an urgent situation.

The system is just one of many ways that the university will communicate in an emergency. Others include mass e-mail, voice mail, reverse 911 and social-networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.