Grand Valley State University will test its emergency alert system Friday at noon. Alert notifications will be sent to members of the campus community, and a test message will also be heard through the Allendale Campus’ outdoor emergency notification system.

“There is no action required from anyone receiving the alert and University operations will continue as normal,” the Department of Public Safety said in a statement to the Lanthorn. “Severe weather will postpone the test until the following day. The Department of Public Safety will send out a message through GVSUAlert! to all students, faculty and staff.”

The University implemented the GVSUAlert! system in 2011, which provides federally required warnings and emergency notifications to anyone with a GVSU email. The system also provides options for text updates and voice messaging. The system is routinely tested internally and tested across campus once annually.

The outdoor emergency notification system was added in 2015, followed by desktop override notifications on University computers in 2016. Students may see an alert if they are using desktop computers in campus spaces like the library or technology labs. The message will also appear on GVSU’s Emergency webpage.

These notifications encompass a wide variety of issues that could impact anyone on campus.

“The system is designed to quickly notify the campus community of important information during emergency incidents,” the statement added. “Users may receive alerts for incidents such as gas leaks, winter weather closures, armed suspects on campus, power outages or any other incidents that require emergency notification.”

Questions may be referred to Sgt. William O’Donnell in the Emergency Management Office at 616-331-3255 or [email protected].