As required by federal law, Yeshiva University has established the following procedures to address emergency situations requiring immediate notification to the campus community.
The University employs separate procedures that govern timely warnings of campus crimes that are sent to the campus community. This policy applies only in situations where the Emergency Response Group (as defined below) determines that there is an immediate threat of danger to the campus community.
Immediate notification will be used in only those situations (e.g., severe weather, major fires and serious crimes) that occur on campus and involve an imminent threat to the health or safety of students or staff.
In the event of a significant emergency or dangerous event requiring immediate notification, the University will employ an alert system that includes any or all of the following: text-message, voicemail, email, the University’s website, the University’s hotline, and other available communication channels (which may include campus flat screens). The University will generally provide follow-up information to the larger community as appropriate via the University’s website.
The alert system is provided in addition to existing emergency notification procedures and does not replace or eliminate any other emergency notification system (e.g., fire alarms or intrusion alarm systems). If the University follows its immediate notification procedures in the case of an immediate threat, the University is not obligated to issue a timely warning based on the same circumstances.
Emergency Response
The members of the Emergency Response Group are responsible for determining whether there is a significant emergency or dangerous situation on campus. If any member of the Emergency Response Group confirms the existence of a significant on-campus emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or staff, such person, in conjunction with the other members of the Emergency Response Group, is responsible for determining the appropriate segment or segments of the campus community to receive the alert message.
The Emergency Response Group will immediately notify the Marketing and Communications office of any emergency or dangerous situation, and all public inquiries will be directed to such office.
The Emergency Response Group will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the immediate notification and initiate the alert system, unless issuing an alert will, in the professional judgment of the Emergency Response Group or other responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency situation.
The Office of the President (including the Chief of Staff), as well as the Vice President of Business Affairs, the Vice President for Legal Affairs, the Provost, the Vice President of Communications, the Chief Human Resources Officer, and the Dean of Students (collectively, the “Emergency Response Notification Group”), also will be immediately notified of any emergency or dangerous situation and, as appropriate, consulted in making any such determinations.
The police and other emergency personnel will be contacted as appropriate. Page 2 of 2 (July 2019) Alert System
The University maintains multiple systems for alerting students and staff about campus emergencies. The University provides alert messages to the campus community, via the YU ALERT system. To receive the above notifications, students and staff are strongly encouraged to register their cell phones, text devices, PDAs and land-line phones by visiting www.yu.edu/yualert.
Emergency alerts are also sent to email addresses ending in “yu.edu.” Annual Testing The Security Department is responsible for testing the University’s emergency response and evacuation procedures at least once per year. These tests may be announced or unannounced.
The Security Department is responsible for maintaining documentation for each test, including a description of the exercise, the date and time of the exercise, and whether the drill was announced or unannounced. The University will publicize (generally via e-mail but at times it also may use other forms of communication) its emergency response policy and emergency response procedures to all current students and staff in conjunction with at least one test per year.
Emergency Response Group
- Senior Vice President
- Chief Facilities & Administrative Officer
- Chief of Security
* The Emergency Response Notification Group will be notified and consulted as provided above. In the event of a vacancy in any of the positions referred to herein, the person performing the duties of such vacant position shall be substituted herein.