Northwestern
Emergency Notification Systems
Northwestern University's Emergency Notification System disseminates timely information to the campus community when there is a threat to safety, sending AlertNU messages for immediate or imminent life-safety threats and Crime Notices for Clery Act-reportable serious or continuing threats (Emergency Management).
Read the official policy~23,856 studentsAlertNU
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
System purposenot yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
AlertNU triggernot yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
Crime Notices / Clerynot yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
Community self-enrollmentnot yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- AlertNU messages are sent for an immediate or imminent life-safety threat believed to be occurring on or near campus (e.g., an active aggressor) requiring immediate action. Crime Notices are issued for Clery Act reportable crimes occurring on Clery Act Geography when there could be a serious or continuing threat to the safety of the campus community.
- Who decides
- Issued through Northwestern's Emergency Management / Department of Safety & Security and University Police as part of the campus safety plan; the page frames AlertNU and Crime Notices as the university's official notification channels (specific individual approvers are governed by the campus safety plan rather than reproduced on the public overview page).
- Timeliness standard
- The Emergency Notification System disseminates 'timely information' upon a threat to safety; AlertNU is for immediate/imminent life-safety threats requiring immediate action. Crime Notices (timely warnings) are issued when a serious or continuing threat is determined.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- AlertNU messages map to the Clery emergency-notification requirement (immediate or imminent threat to health/safety). Crime Notices are the Clery timely-warning requirement, issued for Clery Act reportable crimes on Clery Act Geography that pose a serious or continuing threat, and include incident details plus safety/prevention guidance.
- Testing cadence
- The emergency notification system is tested periodically (a test was announced for October 2024) to confirm it can quickly and effectively warn the community about an immediate or imminent threat.
- Scope & limits
- AlertNU is limited to immediate or imminent life-safety threats on or near campus; Crime Notices are limited to Clery Act reportable crimes on Clery Act Geography posing a serious or continuing threat. Email is auto-enrolled for students/faculty/staff; landline, cell, and text require contact info in CAESAR (students) or myHR (employees); the larger community can self-enroll for 365 days by texting AlertNU to 226787.
ChannelsEmailSmsPhone CallDigital SignageWebsite
Analysis
Reading the policy
Northwestern's Emergency Notification System disseminates timely information to the campus community in the event of a threat to safety affecting the University. The framework distinguishes two message types. AlertNU messages are used for an immediate or imminent life-safety threat believed to be occurring on or near campus — for example, an active aggressor — where immediate action is required and community members should follow the instructions in the AlertNU communication. AlertNU messages may be sent via email, text, or phone calls and posted on digital screens and the Northwestern homepage, where they are denoted with the color red.
The second message type is the Crime Notice. Crime Notices are issued for incidents of crime considered to be serious or continuing threats to safety, as required by the Clery Act. They are issued for Clery Act reportable crimes occurring on Clery Act Geography when it is determined there could be a serious or continuing threat to the safety of the campus community, and they typically include the date, time, and location of occurrence, a description of the incident, and information that could aid community members in altering their behavior to protect their personal safety and minimize additional incidents. The university lists examples such as robbery, assault, vehicle theft, and hate crimes.
Enrollment is partly automatic and partly opt-in. Students, faculty, and staff automatically have their Northwestern email entered into the emergency notification system; to receive notifications via landline, cell phone, and text message, individuals must enter contact information in the student records system, CAESAR (for students), or the myHR system (for faculty and staff). Members of the larger community can enroll in AlertNU for 365 days by texting "AlertNU" to 226787 and receive a confirmation text upon successful subscription.
Northwestern periodically tests its emergency notification system (the underlying platform has been reported as Rave) to ensure it can quickly and effectively warn students, faculty, staff, and visitors about an immediate or imminent threat on campus; a system test was announced for October 2024. On Clery framing, AlertNU corresponds to the federal emergency-notification requirement (immediate threats to health or safety), while Crime Notices correspond to the longstanding timely-warning requirement for Clery-reportable crimes posing a serious or continuing threat.
Takeaways
Key findings
Northwestern's Emergency Notification System has two tiers: AlertNU (immediate/imminent life-safety threats) and Crime Notices (Clery-required serious or continuing threats).
AlertNU messages are sent via email, text, and phone calls and posted on digital screens and the Northwestern homepage (denoted in red), and require immediate action.
Crime Notices map to the Clery timely-warning requirement for reportable crimes on Clery Act Geography and include incident details plus prevention guidance.
Email is automatically enrolled for students/faculty/staff; landline, cell, and text require entry in CAESAR (students) or myHR (employees); the public can self-enroll for 365 days by texting AlertNU to 226787.
The system is tested periodically (e.g., an October 2024 test) to confirm it can quickly warn the community of an immediate or imminent threat.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
8 documented times Northwestern’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Official
- Official
- Clery ASR
- Official
- Student Paper
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningnorthwesternalertnucrime-noticeclery
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-09-20Via ingestion