Vandal Alert policy amended to include off-campus emergencies
The updated Vandal Alert Notification System policy allows University of Idaho personnel to send alerts for emergent events off campus, said Matt Dorschel, Public Safety and Security executive director.
Dorschel said the change in policy is directly related to the university’s delayed response to the Jan. 10 shooting spree in Moscow.
Dorschel said UI President Chuck Staben asked for an updated emergency notification policy to reflect the need to send out Vandal Alerts for events that happen off-campus and may not be an immediate threat.
Dorschel said if the new policy were in effect at the time of the shooting, a Vandal Alert would have been broadcasted as soon as the university learned about the incident.
The policy in effect at the time of the shooting did not include language about alerts about off-campus events. It provided language for two categories of events — timely warning and adverse weather — required by the Clery Act, which mandates reporting of crimes on campus.
The first category, “timely warning,” is for on-campus crimes posing a “serious or continuing threat” to students and employees. The second category is to alert the community of adverse weather. Dorschel said the previous policy did not necessarily permit the university to send alerts that didn’t fall into the two categories.
The new category, “informational notification” would be used when emergencies or crimes do not fit within the original categories or for off-campus events.
In a guest voice in the Jan. 20 edition of The Argonaut, Staben said “UI should have issued a Vandal Alert letting people know that there was no danger on campus, an assessment we received directly from MPD shortly after 3 p.m. We will change our policy and practice on the use of the Vandal Alert, so that our public is better informed as situations like this one arise.”
Dorschel said although the university did not issue an alert directly after the shooting, a communication was sent out later to inform the public that the situation had resolved.
“We didn’t issue an alert. We did issue a sort of ‘all-clear,'” Dorschel said of the alert released around 11:30 p.m. Jan. 10.
When UI fully knew the details of the shooting situation, Vice President of Finance and Administration Ron Smith said it was already resolved, so the university elected not to send an alert.
Dorschel said even if there was no direct threat to students or staff in the situation, Staben felt moving forward it would be better to put out some information on similar events.
“Sometimes that can help alleviate fear or concerns,” Dorschel said.
Dorschel presented changes to the Vandal Alert policy to UI Faculty Senate March 10.
Marty Ytreberg, Faculty Senate chair, questioned who decides what events are of “significant interest,” which is the language used to describe the informational notification category.
Dorschel said there would not be designated person to determine what is of significant interest, but rather the director of Integrated Communications or a designee has authority to broadcast an informational notification.
Katelyn Hilsenbeck can be reached at [email protected]