University of North Florida makes changes after issues with alert system during campus threat

The University of North Florida is making some changes after communication problems during a threat of a possible armed person on campus.

“That’s a serious issue and it should definitely be fixed,” said Anna Skidmore, a student.

Students at UNF expected an emergency alert system to work – instantly.

“The email went to my junk, and I never got a text. I found out through people who don’t even go to this school,” said Kenna Garber, a student.

It turned out to be a false alarm. But, it took an hour for hundreds of students to receive an alert about a possible armed person in the arena garage last Monday night.

The school’s spokesperson said the 911 operator sent out the alert via email, instead of a text message or a phone call – the best way to communicate.

And, around 1,500 students never received an email. The school said the messages never went through because it looked like it was a spam message.

“So we are talking with the vendor to see if they can throttle those messages, separate them by 30 seconds to make sure they all go through, all of the way,” said Sharon Ashton, a UNF spokesperson.

The school said it’s hiring more employees in the 911 center, and retraining all employees with the police department.

“Now in our 911 operator center there is a very clear cut list of instructions of what they need to do first in order to get a message out, and get a message out quickly,” said Ashton.

The school said it’s crisis team will meet in March to discuss what should’ve happened.

Cox Media Group