CSU
Emergency Notifications and Timely Warnings / Types of Alerts and Advisories Used at CSU
Colorado State University delivers campus warnings through the Everbridge notification system supported by the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA), reaching all students and employees with a colostate.edu email automatically plus opt-in text alerts, and it organizes messages into four tiers — Emergency Alerts, Safety Alerts (timely warnings), Safety Advisories, and University Closure Notices.
Read the official policyInstitution
Colorado State University
Public R1 · CO
~33,500 studentsCSU Alert (Everbridge)
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
Everbridge system and email/text deliveryreconstructed
CSU uses the Everbridge notification system that is supported by the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA) and activated for CSU-related emergencies by CSU personnel. This system issues email notifications to all CSU students and employees who maintain an @colostate.edu email address. Additionally, text alert notifications are also made to employees and students who have a telephone number on file with the university.
- — Identifies the vendor (Everbridge) and the LETA partnership, and establishes email as universal while text is contingent on a phone number on file. Captured from official page text reproduced and corroborated across multiple independent searches; the .edu page 403-blocks automated fetching, so not directly confirmed verbatim.
Safety Alert = Clery timely warningreconstructed
Safety alerts are sent as a timely warning to the university community of a crime committed on or near a university campus, in accordance with Clery Act guidelines, providing increased community awareness of ongoing or dangerous situations.
- — Defines the 'Safety Alert' label as CSU's branding for a Clery timely warning. Captured from official page text reproduced across multiple searches; .edu page 403-blocks fetching, so marked unconfirmed.
Safety Advisory definitionreconstructed
A safety advisory is sent to the university community for issues that are not threats or emergencies. Safety advisories inform the community of activity that may impact campuses.
- — Distinguishes the non-emergency 'Safety Advisory' tier from the threat-based Emergency Alert and Safety Alert tiers. Captured from reproduced official page text; .edu page 403-blocks fetching.
Timely warning decision authorityreconstructed
Determinations about whether to issue timely warnings may be made by the Chief of Police or their designee, the Clery compliance program director or their designee, the Assistant Vice President for Safety and Risk Services or their designee, or the Vice President of University Operations.
- — Names the four-role decision matrix for timely warnings. Captured from reproduced official page text and corroborated across searches; .edu page 403-blocks automated fetching, so marked unconfirmed.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- Emergency notification (Emergency Alert): an event currently ongoing on, or imminently threatening, the campus — a confirmed immediate threat to the safety of those on site or near Main Campus in areas of high student populations. Timely warning (Safety Alert): a Clery Act crime reported on Clery geography (criminal homicide, sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, hate crimes, domestic violence, and drug/alcohol/weapons arrests and referrals) for which CSU determines a serious or continuing threat exists. Safety Advisory: non-threat activity that may impact campuses. University Closure Notice: weather conditions preventing normal operations (all Larimer County campuses).
- Who decides
- Timely warning determinations may be made by the Chief of Police or their designee, the Clery compliance program director or their designee, the Assistant Vice President for Safety and Risk Services or their designee, or the Vice President of University Operations. A determination is made using an established Timely Warning matrix. The Everbridge system is activated for CSU-related emergencies by CSU personnel.
- Timeliness standard
- Emergency notifications are issued for events currently ongoing or imminently threatening the campus. For timely warnings, the Clery Act does not define 'timely'; the intent is to promptly provide information so people can prevent or protect themselves from similar crimes.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- Two-tier Clery model expressed as four named levels: Emergency Alerts (Clery emergency notifications for ongoing/imminent threats), Safety Alerts (Clery timely warnings for already-occurred crimes posing a serious or continuing threat), plus non-Clery Safety Advisories and University Closure Notices.
- Testing cadence
- The university tests its notification systems twice per year to help prepare for emergencies and dangerous situations.
- Scope & limits
- Email notifications reach all CSU students and employees with a colostate.edu address and cannot be opted out of; text-alert notifications reach only those who have opted in / have a phone number on file. Emergency alerts are sent to affected campuses; University closures due to weather apply to all Larimer County campuses. Subscription is via RAMweb (students), AAR (faculty/staff), or texting CSUALERT to 888777.
ChannelsEmailSmsWebsiteTwitter X
Analysis
Reading the policy
CSU runs its emergency communications on the Everbridge platform supported by the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA) but activated for CSU-related emergencies by CSU personnel. The system issues email notifications to all CSU students and employees who maintain a colostate.edu email address, and text-alert notifications go to employees and students who have a telephone number on file with the university. Students and employees cannot opt out of the emailed emergency messages, while cell-phone notifications are made only to those who have opted in — making the campus email channel the universal, mandatory backbone of the program.
CSU draws the standard Clery distinction between two life-safety tiers. Per the CSU Clery program, an emergency notification is triggered by an event that is currently ongoing on, or imminently threatening, the campus, whereas a timely warning is triggered by a Clery Act crime reported on Clery geography when CSU determines there is a serious or continuing threat to the university community. CSU notes that the Clery Act does not define 'timely,' but the intent of the warning is to promptly provide information to help people prevent or protect themselves from similar crimes. On its public-facing Types of Alerts and Advisories page, CSU expands this into four named levels: Emergency Alerts (confirmed immediate threat to safety), Safety Alerts (the timely-warning tier, sent in accordance with Clery Act guidelines for crimes on or near campus such as criminal homicide, sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, hate crimes, and domestic violence), Safety Advisories (non-threat information that may impact campuses), and University Closure Notices (weather-driven closures, which apply to all Larimer County campuses).
Decision authority for timely warnings is explicitly distributed. Per the CSU Clery program, determinations may be made by the Chief of Police or their designee, the Clery compliance program director or their designee, the Assistant Vice President for Safety and Risk Services or their designee, or the Vice President of University Operations. Once an initial report that may fit the timely-warning criteria is received, the determination is made using an established Timely Warning matrix, weighing the information reported, the timing of the report, and whether a continuing threat to the university community is present.
Enrollment and testing round out the framework. CSU tests its notification systems twice per year to help prepare for emergencies and dangerous situations. Students subscribe to emergency text alerts through RAMweb (Manage My Student Record) and faculty/staff through Administrative Applications and Resources (AAR); CSU also offers a self-service text opt-in by texting CSUALERT to 888777, with separate keywords for event and operational notifications. Because every CSU official .edu page (clery.colostate.edu, safety.colostate.edu) returns HTTP 403 to automated fetching in this environment, the excerpts below were captured from the official CSU page text as reproduced and corroborated across multiple independent search queries rather than fetched directly; they are therefore marked isVerbatimConfirmed:false and the remaining detail is paraphrased.
Takeaways
Key findings
CSU runs its alerts on Everbridge supported by the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA) but activated by CSU personnel, reaching all colostate.edu email holders (no opt-out) plus opt-in text subscribers.
Messages are organized into four named levels: Emergency Alerts (immediate threat), Safety Alerts (Clery timely warnings for crimes on/near campus), Safety Advisories (non-threat info), and University Closure Notices (weather, all Larimer County campuses).
Timely-warning authority is distributed across four roles — Chief of Police, Clery compliance program director, Assistant VP for Safety and Risk Services, or the VP of University Operations — using an established Timely Warning matrix.
An emergency notification is for an ongoing or imminently threatening event; a timely warning is for an already-occurred Clery crime posing a serious or continuing threat; CSU notes the Clery Act does not define 'timely.'
CSU tests its notification systems twice per year; students subscribe via RAMweb, faculty/staff via AAR, and anyone can text CSUALERT to 888777 for text alerts.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
3 documented times CSU’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Official
- Official
- Official
- Official
- Student Paper
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningclery-acteverbridgecsu-alertpublic-r1colorado
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-06-21Via ingestion