New Ways to Stay Safe at UT Tyler

The University of Texas at Tyler is considered a pretty safe place to be, but like any public establishment, there is always the potential for risk, especially situations that could be unique to college campuses. There is no need to fear, however. Here at UT Tyler, the campus police have worked on a large number of ways for students to stay safe and informed, including programs such as PatriotALERT and the upcoming release of a RAVE mobile safety app that lets you stay safe with just your cellphone or tablet on hand. If you are out and about without a mobile device, you may also want to know about the emergency blue phones on campus as well.

PatriotALERT is a system designed to send messages (emails, texts, and voice mails) to students and their parents if their contact information is included when the student signs up. Students automatically get emails sent to their campus account and adding phone numbers increases the chance that you will see these important notifications. The types of messages you might receive range from notices about bad weather expected around campus, closures, potentially threatening situations to the student, as well as notifications about emergency warning system drills so that people are aware that there is not any real issue while the drills are performed. If you want to opt in to PatriotALERT and have not already, visit your My.uttyler.edu account to sign up. This link provides you with all of the instructions.

We also have areas around campus that include emergency blue light phones that allow you to quickly get in contact with police dispatch services if you are in an unfavorable situation that requires immediate attention, or if you need help and don't have a working phone for whatever reason while you are on campus. If you ever need one of these, be sure to familiarize yourself with the map below so you know where to find one. The red numbers denote places where you may find an emergency blue light phone. Unfortunately, they do not look like a tardis. 

Click the map to Enlarge

Finally, we have the new App that has just been announced. This app, provided through RAVE Mobile Security, is called RAVE Guardian and can be found in your phone's app store. It provides the student with the ability to quickly contact campus police in an emergency situation, as well as to add numbers for other people the student may consider "Guardians"; from a trusted room mate to a family member nearby, or directly to your parents. We would highly recommend having at least two people as a guardian besides the police if you can, because it's good to know you have people who can help you if you need it. 

The app itself works by allowing students to quickly place a call or text to the campus police and their guardians if an unfavorable situation seems to be brewing and you feel you need help. The other useful function is what is called a safety timer, which is a button the student may press to set a timer for them to return safely from going out somewhere or to get out of a situation. If the timer is not deactivated by the student before it runs out, it will send a message to the police and the guardians designated in the app to send a police officer to check on you and ensure that you are in no trouble. 

These coupled with other measures of safety provided in the campus living areas help make our school as safe and secure as it can be. If you have any questions about campus safety or about the three services I wrote about above, leave a comment or feel free to directly contact Campus Police by following the link. The Campus Police page provides a lot of great information about security and about these systems.

Remember, have fun while you are at school, but be safety-conscious as well. Even in a safe area such as this, it's good to know what to do if you get stuck in a tough situation.