ASU
ASUALERT Emergency Notification — 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
Alabama State University — a public HBCU in Montgomery, Alabama — operates its emergency notification system as **ASUALERT**, described in the University's 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report as "an emergency notification service available to students, faculty and staff" that is "a closed, opt-out system" delivered on the **Regroup** mass-notification platform. NOTE ON NAMING: this case was assigned under the label "Hornet Alert," but the University's official documentation brands the system ASUALERT; the file uses the documented name and flags the discrepancy.
Read the official policy~4,081 studentsASUALERT
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
ASUALERT definition and opt-out designverbatim
ASUALERT is an emergency notification service available to students, faculty and staff. ASUALERT is a closed, opt-out system.
- Defines the system and establishes its closed, opt-out enrollment model; reproduced identically across multiple official search snippets from the 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.
Notification methods including radio and building coordinatorsnot 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.
Alabama State University Public Safety Emergency Preparedness PlanPublic Safety / Emergency Management Team response designnot 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.
Alabama State University Public Safety Emergency Preparedness PlanAt a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- ASUALERT is activated for emergency notifications to students, faculty and staff upon confirmation of an emergency or dangerous situation. As a Clery-covered institution, ASU issues emergency notifications for significant emergencies or dangerous situations involving an immediate threat to health or safety, and timely warnings for Clery-reportable crimes posing a serious or ongoing threat (specific verbatim trigger language not captured in the snippets reviewed).
- Who decides
- The Alabama State University Department of Public Safety, working through the Emergency Management Team, confirms emergencies and activates ASUALERT per the University's Disaster/Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.
- Timeliness standard
- Consistent with the Clery Act, emergency notifications are issued without delay upon confirmation of an immediate threat, subject to the standard mitigation exception; the exact ASU-specific timing wording was not reproduced in the material reviewed.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- As a Clery-covered institution, ASU's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report carries the two-track framework: emergency notifications via ASUALERT for confirmed immediate-threat situations, and timely warnings for Clery-reportable crimes that pose a serious or ongoing threat.
- Testing cadence
- Not reproduced verbatim in the sources captured; the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report addresses Clery testing of emergency response and evacuation procedures, but the exact cadence and announced/unannounced practice were not surfaced in the snippets reviewed.
- Scope & limits
- ASUALERT is a closed, opt-out system for students, faculty and staff, so the campus community is enrolled by default. Delivery channels include text/voice/email push via Regroup plus voice mail, e-mail blasts, building announcements by each floor's Building Safety Coordinator, and announcements aired on ASU's WVAS (90.7 FM) radio station.
ChannelsSmsEmailPhone CallPa SystemWebsite
Analysis
Reading the policy
Alabama State University's emergency-alert program is officially named **ASUALERT**. The University's 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report states plainly that "ASUALERT is an emergency notification service available to students, faculty and staff" and that "ASUALERT is a closed, opt-out system" — meaning members of the campus community are enrolled by default and must affirmatively opt out, a design that maximizes reach for immediate-threat messaging. The assignment referenced a "Hornet Alert" brand (after ASU's Hornet mascot), but no official ASU documentation reviewed uses that name for the notification system; the documented brand is ASUALERT, so this file adopts ASUALERT and records the naming discrepancy here for transparency.
**Platform / vendor.** ASU uses **Regroup** (Regroup Mass Notification) to provide alerts via ASUALERT. The University layers additional, lower-tech channels on top of the Regroup-driven text/voice/email push: per ASU materials, notification methods include voice mail, e-mail blasts, building announcements delivered by each floor's Building Safety Coordinator, and announcements aired on ASU's campus radio station, WVAS (90.7 FM). This radio + building-coordinator approach is a distinctive secondary-channel design that extends reach beyond personal devices.
**Decision authority and response.** Emergency notification at ASU is managed by the **Department of Public Safety**. The University's Disaster/Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan was "designed for the Alabama State University Department of Public Safety to ensure a set response and action will take place by the Emergency Management Team prior to or directly following an emergency situation," placing confirmation and activation of ASUALERT within Public Safety and the Emergency Management Team.
**Clery framing.** As a Clery-covered institution, ASU's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report carries the federally required emergency-notification and timely-warning policy statements — emergency notifications for confirmed significant emergencies or dangerous situations involving an immediate threat, issued without delay subject to the standard mitigation exception, alongside timely warnings for Clery-reportable crimes that pose a serious or ongoing threat. The exact verbatim text of ASU's without-delay and testing-cadence statements was not reproduced in the snippets reviewed (the host 403-blocks direct PDF fetch), so those specifics are paraphrased here rather than quoted.
Takeaways
Key findings
ASU's emergency notification system is officially branded ASUALERT, not 'Hornet Alert' (the assigned label); no official ASU documentation reviewed uses 'Hornet Alert' for the system.
ASUALERT is 'a closed, opt-out system' for students, faculty and staff — the campus community is enrolled by default and must affirmatively opt out.
ASU delivers ASUALERT on the Regroup mass-notification platform.
Secondary channels are notably broad: voice mail, e-mail blasts, building announcements by each floor's Building Safety Coordinator, and announcements aired on ASU's WVAS (90.7 FM) campus radio station.
The Department of Public Safety and the Emergency Management Team confirm emergencies and activate ASUALERT per the University's Disaster/Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
4 documented times ASU’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Clery ASR
- Clery ASR
- Official
- Official
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warninghbcualabamaregroup
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-09-20Via ingestion