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Southern Illinois U Edwardsville Adopts Campus Safety App

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/31/15

A 2,660-acre Illinois school has expanded its security technology on campus with the addition of a safety app that lets users create "virtual safety networks" while in transit or alone on campus. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is making Rave Guardian from Rave Mobile Safety available to 16,500 students, faculty and staff. The university was already a customer of the company's notification service, Rave Alert.

The new service, which has been branded as "SIUE-Safe," allows the user to send emergency communication to public safety personnel and others. The person invites friends and family members to act as virtual "guardians" who can monitor a user's status updates and location and be notified at assigned check-in times.

If the timer expires or the user initiates a panic call, the app automatically notifies campus police with a profile of the person and his or her GPS location. The profile information is opt-in and can include residence address and medical conditions.

The app also allows the user to contact safety officials when help is needed or to send "text tips," including photos, when something suspicious is taking place.

"SIUE-Safe is the perfect complement to the campus 'E-lert' system, said Bob Vanzo, SIUE director of administrative services. "With E-lert, we provide emergency notification to faculty, staff and students. On the other hand, SIUE-Safe allows emergency communication from faculty, staff and students to their guardians and university police."

The app, which is branded for each institution, is available for free download for iOS and Android devices.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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