About CBCS

Safety Message #2

When an emergency happens, the first thing people typically want is accurate and up-to-date information. I would like to use this month's installment of my safety campaign newsletter to speak briefly about communication within the University during such times.

The most common communication method employed by the University during an emergency is the MoBull System. MoBull is a part of USF's emergency notification system and was designed to notify members of the USF community of campus emergencies through your cell phone. The system is free to all USF students, faculty and staff, but enrollment is required. Directions for enrolling in MoBull are included below. Please take a minute to enroll in this valuable service (http://www.mobull.usf.edu/).

Along with Mobull, the University announced on January 10th that it will be adding a new emergency communication channel to our USF computer desktops. USF IT will remotely install Alertus Desktop Alert software to your desktop (if it hasn't already) which will notify you in the event of an actual emergency. The icon for this software will appear on your taskbar and will not require any action from you. This is exciting news since many do not have cell phones or have fees associated with receiving texts.

There are other ways to guard your safety on campus. The first of these is the Smart911 service. This voluntary service allows you to provide emergency responders with personal data about yourself such as a picture, office location, vehicle information, class schedule and physical location via GPS signal. In the event that you contact 911, emergency responders will have important information to locate you. Guardian is another voluntary program that allows you to set a timer before you traverse from one part of campus to another. If you do not de-activate your timer before it expires, your profile information is transmitted to the University Police so they can contact you or find you if necessary. While primarily designed for students, Guardian can be helpful to faculty and staff who need to move about campus at night or early morning hours.

I would strongly encourage you to learn more about these programs and to take advantage of these services offered by the University. For those of you who have contact with students, please inform them of these important resources and encourage their adoption.

Directions to enroll in Mobull:

  1. Log into MyUSF
  2. Click on the "Manage my NETID" tab
  3. Select "Update Emergency Notification Settings" and follow prompts
  4. Click "Submit" to save your changes

Directions to enroll in Smart911 and Guardian:

  1. Log into MyUSF
  2. Click on the "Manage my NETID"
  3. Select "Sign Up for Smart911 and Guardian"
  4. Follow the prompts to complete your Smart911 profile
  5. Be sure to confirm your mobile phone number