Emergency Procedures

What to do in an Emergency

As always, the University is dedicated to safeguarding the health and safety of each student. In recent days, we have received some inquiries from parents and students about specific things to do in the case of an emergency. Here is what our procedures entail:

  • Students, faculty and staff are urged to report any suspicious activity to:
    Public Safety at 253-1503 or 254-3611 and/or a Residence Assistant
    Bristol Police Department at 253-6900

Sound Training, Local Police Support

Roger Williams Residence Assistants are thoroughly trained in dealing with a wide range of emergencies and problems. In addition, the University has trained EMTs on the Public Safety squad. The University has worked closely with the Bristol Police Department on emergency preparedness. And our proactive Public Safety personnel also have good working relationships with law enforcement in other neighboring towns. A Rhode Island State Police Barracks is also 15 minutes from campus in Middletown, R.I.

Notifying Students of an Emergency

In an emergency, here is how we keep our students, faculty and staff informed of developments:

  • Use our Rave Alert system to deliver real-time information and updates via phone, e-mail and text message
  • Post notices in a bright red banner on the front of our Web site
  • Record a message on our campus hotline (254-4400)
  • Send an all-campus voice mail message to land lines in student housing, staff offices
  • Place ads with the campus radio station and cable TV channel
  • Use low-tech communications measures, such as posters on dorms and other buildings
  • Develop cell phone contact trees for staff, who will use word-of-mouth to reach others
  • Our campus is compact enough that we can cover it physically rather quickly if we need to reach specific buildings or persons in the event of something major.

Emergency Planning is Continual

The University also is revising the Roger Williams Emergency Response plan, which has worked smoothly during the handful of times it has been activated in the past: typically in coping with power outages, severe weather and to notify students of criminal activity. Even with this detailed planning already in place, we are constantly revising, refining our response plan. This week鈥檚 tragic events are naturally prompting us to revisit every aspect of our own emergency response measures, and how we communicate with on- and off-campus communities. In fact, we already have identified additional tactics we could employ and we will add those to a revised emergency response plan in coming days.

Remaining Alert

We continue to remind all our students, faculty and staff that the counseling center is available to anyone experiencing difficulty or seeking support. And we all need to remember that campus safety depends on each of us: Anyone who witnesses a person exhibiting any unusual or troubling behavior should immediately contact members of our public safety department, a Residence Assistant, a member of our campus counseling center or any faculty member, staff member or administrator. We guarantee the strictest confidentiality.

February 15, 2008