SEBTS is introducing a Mass Notification Program through a company called Nixle. This will allow SEBTS to communicate to its faculty, staff, and students through email and text messaging. Nixle allows participants to sign up for this service for free, but remember that the text messaging rates of your carrier will apply if you choose the texting feature.

SEBTS is offering a number of groups to participants. The main group is SEBTS Alerts. This is the group that will include only emergency notifications and severe weather warnings. If you sign up for any subgroup, you will automatically receive these emergency alerts. The subgroups include a SEBTS Faculty and Staff group which is available for all faculty and staff. The sign-up widget can be found in the Business Portal (under “Business Documents,” click on “Security and Risk Management,” and then click “Nixle Sign Ups”). The subgroup SEBTS Announcements is available to all participants. This group will be used for announcements which impact the entire campus community such as picnics, conferences, schedule changes, etc. The sign-up widget for this group will be available in the Business Portal and in CampusNet (click on “SEBTS Alerts/Announcements” under the “Forms & Info” tab). Finally, two additional groups will be available for students; SEBTS Housing and SEBTS Residence Life. These groups will target students who may be impacted by emergency maintenance in the area, weather, or general announcements of an important nature. The sign-up widgets for these groups are also available in CampusNet (click on “SEBTS Alerts/Announcements” under the “Forms & Info” tab).

This service will be used on a limited and controlled basis, so please do not think that SEBTS is going to text you five times a day. Each group will have an administrator that must approve each message before sending it to the participants. The following offices are responsible for the corresponding group:

• Department of Campus Security – SEBTS Alerts
• SVP of Business Administration Office – SEBTS Faculty and Staff
• Communications Department – SEBTS Announcements
• Housing Department – SEBTS Housing
• Residence Life – SEBTS Residence Life

If you need an announcement or alert sent out to one of the above groups, please contact the appropriate office.

One caution on the enrollment widgets: Nixle, for some public agencies like police departments, uses a zip code based system to send alerts from local agencies to everyone enrolled in a certain zip code. If you do not wish to receive those alerts, do not enter your zip code when signing-up for this service. SEBTS does not control the messages sent using the zip code service.

If you have already signed up for Nixle, you do not need to sign-up again unless you would like to enroll in another group (you must sign-up for subgroups separately). If you cannot remember if you have already signed up for a particular group, you can sign-up again and the system will let you know if you are already a member of that group. Remember that enrolling in any subgroup automatically enrolls you in the SEBTS Alerts main group.

We are excited about this Mass Notification Program. If you have any questions, please contact me at mlawson@sebts.edu. Thank you.

Michael S. Lawson, D.Min.

Director of Campus Security, SEBTS

Police Chaplain, Officer, and TSU Master Operator, WFPD