Investigating Differences in Emergency Notification System Acquisition and Implementation by Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Abstract: In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, there has been a rush by higher education institutions to acquire emergency notification systems (ENSs). However, there has been little information to guide these systems’ acquisition. Gulum and Murray propose a framework for higher education public safety offi-cials to follow in acquiring an ENS. This study used Gulum and Murray’s frame-work to assess how higher education institutions acquired and implemented ENSs. Five areas, identified as threat assessment, infrastructure investigation, system design, emergency communications planning, and testing, were used to assess institutional practices. Statistically significant differences were found between residential and non-residential institutions regarding threat assess-ment, between 2-year and 4-year institutions and institutions of different enroll-ments in investigating infrastructure, between institutions by region in system design, and between institutions by region in system testing.