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Human Resources
Employee Handbook

Emergency Notifications

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TCU ALERT System

The TCU ALERT System is the mass notification systemfor the campus. It consists of three legs of communication to our campus population.

These are:

  1. Indoor notification – TCU ALERT System uses the existing fire alarm systems to provide verbal notification of the various types of emergencies.
  2. Outdoor notification – TCU ALERT System uses a speaker array to provide the same verbal notification as the inside fire alarms
  3. Phone calls, text and email messages to notify you of an emergency. For more information, please visit: https://publicsafety.tcu.edu/tcu-alerts/.

Within the TCU ALERT System, there are three Emergency Activation Categories with pre-recorded Emergency Mass Notification messages:

  • LOCKDOWN   
  • EVACUATE
  • SEEK SHELTER

Emergency notifications will be broadcast utilizing all outdoor speakers to all buildings on campus and TCU ALERT phone calls, email, texts and voice notification, in conjunction with all emergency broadcasts. Emergency messages will continue to be broadcast until cancelled by TCU Department of Public Safety officials. Upon remediation of the incident, an ALL CLEAR MESSAGE will be broadcast across the system.

University Closings

The University may experience the need to close. The decision to close is based on a number of factors (weather being the most prominent) and may occur in the morning or mid-day. On a morning closure, this information will be sent to the campus by 6:30 a.m. via TCU ALERT and posted on the TCU home page (under the Top News Stories heading) and recorded on TCU’s information line (817-257-INFO or 4636).

Additionally, the information also will be sent to local television and radio stations. If the notice to close comes mid-day, TCU Alert will notify the TCU community of the closure. In the event of an early morning closure, local media outlets will be advised.

  1. Among the local Dallas/Fort Worth television stations to be notified will be WFAA (ABC) Channel 8, NBC Channel 5, CBS Channel 11, and FOX Channel 4.
  2. Local radio stations that will be notified include WBAP 820 AM and KLUV 7 FM.
  3. Updates also will be posted on TCU’s homepage and the link is: tcu.edu.

No notice will be sent or posted if the University remains open.

Should the University close, employees providing essential services related to (1) health and safety, (2) the presence of a residential student community, and (3) agreements with the public for the use of University facilities must still report for work at the regular time.

Each department is responsible for identifying and communicating to their employees that are considered essential employees. It is also possible that some areas of Tarrant County will be more severely affected than others, so even if the University remains open, employees should keep their personal safety uppermost in their minds. If you know your route to campus will be treacherous, do not attempt to make a dangerous trip.