Sign Up for Emergency Text Alerts
1. Log in to Self-Service. Navigate to User Options in the left navigation bar and select User Profile.
2. Scroll down and add your cell phone number which should receive the emergency alert messages to the list of phone numbers.
- Click the ‘Add New Phone’ button just above the list of phone numbers.
- Enter your cell phone number in the ‘Enter Phone Details’ dialog box. Be sure to include the area code. Select the ‘Emergency Alert Messages’ phone type from the Type drop-down menu.
- If your cell phone number is already included in the list of phone numbers with a different phone type, just add it again so you can assign the ‘Emergency Alert Messages’ phone type.
3. If you later decide to use a different phone number to receive emergency alerts, edit the phone number by clicking the pencil and change the phone number as needed.
4. If you later wish to opt-out of receiving emergency alerts, click the small ‘x’ at the end of the Emergency Alert Message line. This will remove the phone number and phone type.
5. All of these changes take effect the next time the Regroup upload cycles, at 5:00 a.m. the following morning.
Campus Safety Alerts
Should a situation arise that, in the judgment of the President or designee constitutes an ongoing or continuing threat, a campus-wide “alert” will be issued. These notifications are electronically transmitted to every computer terminal on campus, excluding student workstations. Staff and faculty members must be logged on to receive emergency alerts. The College has the capacity of sending emergency text messages to faculty and staff cell phones that have registered for the service.
Emergency Alert Levels
Critical incidents can be classified by four levels of response: low level, evacuation, secure in place, and resumption of normal operations. College officials will assess each incident, determine which alert level is appropriate, and implement mass notification as necessary.
Low-level Alert – Alert 1
Given when an incident or situation is occurring on or near campus requiring personnel to be alert to suspicious persons and/or surroundings.
Example: Asheville High Incident
EVACUATE – Alert 2
Given when an incident or situation calls for a specific area of campus to be evacuated and secured.
Example: Bomb Threat
Secure In Place – Alert 3
Given when an incident or situation is occurring on campus and evacuation would pose a greater threat to human life.
Example: Hostage/Gunman Situation, Severe Weather
Resume Normal Operations (all Clear)
Given when an incident or situation has been resolved. College personnel may resume normal operations.
Other Campus Safety Alerts
In the event an alert is activated, Campus Police will enlist the aid of certain college employees for incident management. This group will consist of personnel from Plant Operations, Emergency Services Academy, and designated building contacts. All enlisted people will be identified by neon green security vests.
Certain areas of campus that operate under specific regulations, such as Middle/Early College and Day Care, will receive notification of incidents, regardless of location or severity, as the standard operating procedure.
Emergency Notification Procedures
A-B Tech has a comprehensive strategy for notifying the College’s campuses and the public about emergency response and preparedness procedures or actual emergencies.
Emergency preparedness drills are conducted twice a year to prepare our A-B Tech Asheville Campus, A-B Tech Enka, and A-B Tech Madison locations for potential emergencies such as fires or lockdowns due to hostile threats. The campus and public are notified of the drills in advance to pre-empt confusion and chaos.
The College informs its employees and students of drills and actual emergencies through a number of methods, including email, voicemail, website alerts, social media, and a mass alert public address system. We also strongly encourage all staff and students to sign up for Emergency Text Alerts that are used in case of actual emergencies, drills, and severe weather.
The public is informed of drills and actual emergencies through the news media and direct outreach to nearby businesses and organizations, including Mission Hospital and Asheville High School.
When reporting emergencies, students and staff are encouraged to call Campus Police at (828) 398-7125 or 911 from their cell phones or emergency phones on our campus.