Hawk Alert test set for Thursday, Feb. 19

The University of Iowa Department of Public Safety will test the Hawk Alert emergency notification system at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 as required by federal law.

Subscribers are encouraged to answer their phones and listen to and read test messages, which will allow university officials to monitor the system’s success. The system is programmed to retry phone numbers if they are not answered.

Hawk Alert is used to notify the campus community of threats to physical safety in emergency situations (tornado, violence, hazardous material incident, and other such incidences). Through Hawk Alert, UI administrators can send recorded or electronic emergency messages to UI students, faculty, and staff via mobile phones (both voice and text messages), home phones, office phones, and work and personal email addresses.

Subscribers can manage the methods by which they receive Hawk Alerts and should check and update their preferences by Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, at 6 p.m.

Because alerts can be delivered most effectively via text message, users are encouraged to enter their mobile numbers and select the text message option in their preferences.

To make sure you are subscribed, or to change the delivery options, follow these five steps:

• Log into the Iowa Student Information System (students) or Employee Self Service (faculty and staff)
• Navigate to the Hawk Alert contact information links, or follow the direct links available on the Hawk Alert website
• Review the Hawk Alert contact information listed for you
• Make the appropriate additions or changes using the input boxes and drop-down menus
• Click the “Update Hawk Alert Contact Information” bar at the bottom of the page to save your changes (If no changes are necessary, simply log off).

For assistance, contact the ITS Help Desk at 319-384-HELP (4357) or its-helpdesk@uiowa.edu.

For more information, visit the Hawk Alert website.