OWU Alert System

Ohio Wesleyan uses the OWU ALERT system to inform the campus of emergency situations that require an immediate response.

Once an emergency is determined, the University will send an OWU ALERT email to your owu.edu email account and voice/text messages to your cellular phone of record. The information also will be posted via an RSS feed to owu.edu/emergency as a public source of timely, accurate information.

Who Gets Notified?

Because of the vital nature of these communications, students and employees are auto-enrolled for both OWU ALERT emails and cell phone voice/text messages. If you have downloaded the CampusShield app to your cell phone, you also will receive push notifications of OWU ALERT emergency messages. [Download the app (Android) (iOS).]

OWU ALERT notifications are sent from 740-737-8880. Please add this number to your cell phone contacts as OWU ALERT EMERGENCY. 

• Students – If OWU doesn't have your current cell phone number, update your record by calling the Office of the Registrar at 740-368-3200 or emailing registrar@owu.edu from your OWU email address.

• Employees – Please be sure your personal cell phone number is correct in your ADP profile.

Am I Eligible to Enroll?

If you are the parents or guardians of students; spouses, partners, or other emergency contacts of employees; or on-campus contract workers (such as ABM and Harvest Table), you are able to enroll and unenroll from the OWU ALERT system at any time.

• Parents and guardians – Text OWUalertFamily (not case sensitive and no spaces between words) to 58843 to receive notifications.

• OWU employee spouses, partners, and emergency contacts – text OWUalertPartner (not case sensitive and no spaces between words) to 58843 to receive emergency notifications. 

• Contract employees, including Harvest Table and ABM staff, must enroll themselves using a separate code word that is made available to them.

For these groups:

• You will receive a confirmation message if you enroll successfully.
• If you enroll, you agree to receive OWU ALERT texts and phone calls at any hour, including overnight.
• If you enroll and later want to opt-out, text the word STOP to 58843.
• Please note: Even if you received alerts previously, you must re-enroll once following the instructions above. You will not receive OWU ALERT messages unless you complete this step. Then you will remain enrolled until you choose to unenroll.

Types of Campus Notifications

In addition to OWU ALERTS, Ohio Wesleyan's Department of Public Safety sends other types of advisories and notifications when information needs to be shared but doesn't require an emergency notification. Collectively, these messages consist of:

• Emergency Notifications (OWU ALERTS). Issued when immediate action is required. An RSS feed mirroring all OWU ALERTS is posted online at owu.edu/emergency for up to 72 hours.
• Timely Warnings. Issued for crimes required to be reported under the Clery Act that occur within the University's Clery Act geography; are reported to a Campus Security Authority or a local law enforcement agency; and are determined to represent a serious or continuing threat to students or employees.
•  Public Safety Advisories. Issued when a situation constitutes a serious or continuing threat, but is not a Clery Act crime within OWU geography.
• Campus Operations Notifications. Issued when an Emergency Notification, Timely Warning, or Public Safety Advisory is not appropriate, but the University deems the information important for the safety and well-being of the campus community. Examples include planned fire alarm testing and parking lot closures.

Sharing Updates

During a campus emergency, call 9-1-1 or the OWU Public Safety non-emergency line (740-368-2222) only if you have pertinent information to share. Our priority will be keeping our community safe and handling the emergency; any distractions detract from that effort.

We know how important it is to provide information quickly, and we will provide updates via owu.edu/emergency and our various messaging systems as quickly as appropriate. 

For questions about the OWU ALERT system, please contact Cole Hatcher in the Office of Marketing & Communications at cehatche@owu.edu.