From Congress, a push for faster alerts

Last April's shooting at Virginia Tech prompted a push for universities to revamp their emergency-notification systems. Now, there's a push from Congress to continue emergency alerts - but faster.

A bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives would require colleges to implement their emergency-notification systems within 30 minutes of confirming that alert was necessary.

The bill is part of the House's version of the Higher Education Act renewal.

The bill does not require that students and employees receive the message within 30 minutes - only that the system is implemented within that window.

Bill Andresen, the head of Penn's Washington office, said the University is able to implement the emergency-notification system within a half-hour. However, University officials are concerned about telecommunication companies' ability to deliver messages quickly.

"Who's responsible if you're not able to accomplish the 30-minute time-frame?" Andresen said.

According to Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush, due to differences between cell-phone carriers, some students could receive the text message immediately, while for others it could even take a few days.

"The government needs to speak to the telecommunication providers to see if they can get the text messages out fast enough," said Rush.

In addition to sending text messages, Penn's alert system also utilizes e-mails and voicemails.

The U.S. Senate has a similar provision in its version of the Higher Education Act. However, the Senate's version only requires schools to notify students in a "reasonable and timely" manner. Andresen said the University prefers this wording to the House's 30-minute requirement.

But despite concerns, the University supports the bill's goal.

"There's a universal desire to push the information out quickly," Andresen said.

Some lobbying groups, including Security on Campus and College Parents of America, have endorsed the House's bill.

"It seems that a half-hour is a reasonable amount of time," said James Boyle, president of CPA.

He added that the bill is important because an emergency-notification system could have helped inform the Virginia Tech community about last April's massacre there.

Schools nationwide have implemented mass-notification systems since the Virginia Tech shooting. Penn's system was launched last August.

"It's important to send a message to colleges and universities that it's important to send messages," Boyle said.

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