Charleston Southern University's Chief Information Officer showed us how their new emergency notification system works.



            The university bought the system right after the Virginia Tech tragedy.



            The school is the first in the state to utilize the comprehensive system.

"It's less than $10,000 a year, but what’s the value of a life? Can you put a value on a life? No, but $10,000 a year, it’s almost a no-brainer," says CSU’s Chief Information Officer, Rusty Bruns.

The almost 4,000 students at this school would be notified 45 seconds after the message is sent, even while they are having lunch.

      "Each one of these levels adds more information so we can send at most, three phone numbers, e-mail, pager, and texting, which is incredible," says Bruns.


         
           Students can sign on to the system to update their phone numbers and other contact information.

“Its going to get to a point that parents are going to go to a school and say, ‘Is there emergency response system at this campus? and if the answer is ‘no’ and they ask ‘Are you planning on getting one?’ and the answer is ‘no’, I think they are going to look someplace else," says Bruns.

When I asked Bruns if he thinks these emergency notification systems are the beginning of a trend, he answered, “I think it's the beginning of a requirement."



            A requirement, that many parents feel is necessary.



            The university is running a test for the system to all of the students next month.



            Another area school, The Citadel plans to eventually require all of its students to use a cell phone issued by the school to improve safety.