Emergency Notifications & Timely Warnings

Baylor Alert is the university's emergency notification system used to alert students, staff and faculty in the event of an emergency or threat on campus. Under appropriate circumstances, the Baylor University Department of Public Safety will issue emergency notifications, and/or timely warnings regarding criminal activity or safety issues concerning campus as required by law.

A Baylor emergency notification is notification of an incident that is currently occurring on, or imminently threatening the campus,
A Baylor Timely Warning is notification of Clery crime(s) that have already occurred and are considered by the institution to represent a serious or continuing threat to students and employees,
A Baylor Safety Notification may be issued when an incident or crime has occurred and may affect members of the campus community, but an emergency notification or timely warning is not required.

The Baylor University Department of Public Safety (BUDPS) is responsible for confirming facts that indicate a notification is necessary. BUDPS has primary responsibility for issuing, coordinating, and determining content and methods of delivery of emergency notifications, timely warnings, and safety notifications. BUDPS may delegate certain responsibilities to, or collaborate with other Baylor personnel including but not limited to: the Director of Emergency Management, Office of General Counsel, Title IX Coordinator, Vice President for Student Life, Associate Vice President for Student Life, Director of Media Relations, and Assistant Director for Media Communications.

Notification Procedures

Information and instructions may be sent using one or more methods to all, or to a segment of the campus community for each location.

Main Campus

Text message to your cell phone (automatically opted in; guests may opt in my texting Baylor1845 to 226787)
Twitter @BaylorAlert, and in some instances @BaylorUMedia
E-mail notification to your Baylor email account
Outdoor notification system
Indoor notification system
Audio message to a cell phone or other telephone
Recorded Information on the University’s Information Hotline, 254‐710‐4411
Designated websites
Radio and TV alerts through local news media
Facebook – Baylor Department of Public Safety

A monthly test of the outdoor and indoor notifications systems and a semiannual test of the text, e-mail and voice calling communications system is performed.

Louise Herrington School of Nursing

Text message to your cell phone (automatically opted in)
Twitter @BaylorNursing
E-mail notification to your Baylor email account
Audio message to a cell phone or other telephone
Recorded Information on the University’s Information Hotline, 254‐710‐4411
Louise Herrington School of Nursing website
Notices may also be posted WFAA TV (CH.8)

Dallas Emba Campus Community

Text message to your cell phone (automatically opted in)
E-mail notification to your Baylor email account
Audio message to a cell phone or other telephone

Baylor in New York Program Participants

Text message to your cell phone (automatically opted in)
E-mail notification to your Baylor email account
Audio message to a cell phone or other telephone

Confirming the Existence of a Significant Emergency or Dangerous Situation and Initiating the Emergency Notification System

Once it is confirmed there is, in fact, an emergency or dangerous situation that poses an immediate threat to the health and/or safety of some or all members of the campus community, the Chief of Police, Director of Emergency Management, or other assigned designees will assess the need to issue an emergency notification.

BUDPS will without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the notification system. The only instance there may be a delay, would be the case that issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency. As soon as the condition that may compromise efforts is no longer present, the University will issue the emergency notification to the campus community.

Branch Campus

BUDPS may become aware of emergency situations or incidents through onsite program administrators or other sources. Decisions to issue a notification will be made in coordination with Baylor Scott & White Public Safety for the School of Nursing area and the Waco Police Department for extended jurisdiction. Baylor also works with local law enforcement agencies in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and New York for information pertaining to Baylor’s branch campuses.

Determining the Appropriate Segment or Segments of the Campus Community to Receive an Emergency Notification

For the main campus, Notifications are given to the entire community due to the size of campus, the frequency of movement within the campus by community members, and the concept of keeping the entire community aware of significant emergencies. The University may also post applicable messages about the dangerous situation on the University homepage. This will ensure the rest of the campus is aware of the situation and notify of the steps they should take to maintain personal and campus safety. If the emergency affects a significant portion of the entire campus, University officials will distribute the notification to the entire Baylor campus community.

Administrators at branch campuses will notify appropriate segments of their respective campuses.

Determining the Contents of the Emergency Notification

BUDPS has primary responsibility for coordinating the issuance of a “Baylor Alert”, determining the content of the “Baylor Alert”, and determining which of the methods available for issuance of the “Baylor Alert” will be utilized. The University has a single template message to alert the community of a dangerous situation (Baylor Alert! Dangerous Situation! Seek secure shelter immediately, away from doors and windows. More info to follow.) as quickly as possible. Once that is sent out, there will be a follow-up with more specific details. The only exception to this is when issuing Tornado Warnings and Severe Weather Alerts. The goal is to ensure individuals are aware of the situation and that they know the steps to take to safeguard their personal and community safety.

Procedures for Disseminating Emergency Information to the Greater Community

Dependent upon the situation, Baylor University may work through the office of Marketing and Communications to notify the greater Baylor and Waco community through designated websites (http://www.baylor.edu), a hotline, radio and TV alerts through local news media, and other emerging communications platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, etc.). However, in emergency situations, any police supervisor may authorize an Emergency Notification. For incidents involving off-campus crimes, the University may issue an Safety Notification if the crime occurred in a location used and frequented by the University population.

Enrolling in the University's Emergency Notification System

Students, faculty and staff are highly encouraged to enter and update contact information online:

Students: bearweb.baylor.edu
- Instructions to opt-in to notifications can be found here
- Parents can be added as an "alternate Baylor Alert contact" by their student using the instructions provided above.
Employees: baylor.edu/ignite

We encourage other members of the campus community to enroll in the Baylor Alert system by visiting the Emergency Preparedness site where further instruction is available.

Timely Warning Reports

In an effort to provide timely notice to the campus community in the event of a Clery Act crime that may pose a serious or ongoing threat to members of the community, the Baylor University Police issues “Timely Warnings.” The University Police will generally issue Timely Warnings for the following crimes:

Arson
Aggravated assault
Burglary
Criminal homicide
Hate Crimes
Motor Vehicle Thefts
Robbery
Sexual assaults
Stalking
Dating Violence
Family Violence

Crimes that would not present a continuing threat and therefore might not merit a Timely Warning, include the following:

An assault between two individuals who have a disagreement and know each other. This may be an isolated event and presents no ongoing threat to the community.
In the case of a late report. These cases may be so delayed there is no possibility of issuing a “timely” warning to the community. These will be considered on a case-by-case basis depending on when and where the incident occurred, when it was reported, and the amount of information available.
Crimes in which the perpetrator have been apprehended, thereby eliminating the threat.
Crimes in which an identified perpetrator is only targeting specific individuals to the exclusion of others, such as domestic violence.

BUDPS may post these warnings through a variety of ways, including but not limited to e-mails, phone call, text and other media.

All initial Timely Warning messages will begin with “Baylor Timely Warning” to indicate the severity of the message and will provide a brief description of the timely warning or emergency response notice. When additional information is available, it may be provided using one or more of the methods listed above. The information you receive may provide vital information on what actions you need to take if you are on campus during such a situation. In the event a timely warning is sent, it may include following information:

Type of crime
Date, time and location of the crime
Brief description of the incident
Available suspect information
Safety tips to help with the risk of being involved in a similar incident.

The purpose of these Timely Warnings is to notify the campus community of the incident and to provide information that may enable community members to protect themselves from similar incidents. The University will issue Timely Warnings whenever the following criteria are met:

A crime is committed
The perpetrator has not been apprehended; and
There is a substantial risk to the physical safety of other members of the campus community because of this crime.
Such crimes include, but are not limited to:
Clery Act crimes that are reported to any campus security authority or the local police; or
The University determines that the incident represents an on-going threat to the campus community.

Additionally, BUDPS may, in some circumstances, issue Timely Warnings when there is a pattern of crimes against persons or property. At Baylor University, the Chief of University Police will generally make the determination, in consultation with other University officials, if a Timely Warning is required.

Anyone with information warranting a timely warning or emergency response notification for the Baylor University campuses may reference the list below for guidance of who to call.

For the Baylor University Waco campus, or the Diana R. Garland Waco School of Social Work
BUPD at 254‐710‐2222
For The Louis Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas
Baylor University Medical Center Police at 214‐820‐4444
For the George W. Truett Theological Seminary: Houston Campus,
Director at 254-710-6056
For the George W. Truett Theological Seminary: San Antonio Campus,
Director at 210-331-1818
For the Dallas Executive MBA Program,
Director at 972-458-2327
For the Baylor in New York Program,
Director at 917-617-8404

If unable to reach someone at the numbers provided in the case of an emergency, please refer to the local law enforcement agencies within the area or call 911.