Cornell
CornellALERT Emergency Mass Notifications and Timely Warnings
CornellALERT is Cornell University's Emergency Mass Notification (EMN) system, used when the Chief of Cornell Police or a designee determines a situation poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of the campus community; it is distinct from the Cornell University Police Department's Clery Timely Warnings (Crime Alerts), which address serious or continuing threats.
Read the official policyInstitution
Cornell University
Private R1 · NY
~26,000 studentsCornellALERT
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
Two-form Clery frameworkverbatim
Pursuant to the Clery Act, the Cornell University Police Department provides emergency notifications to the Ithaca campus community in the form of Timely Warnings (Crime Alert) and Emergency Mass Notifications (CornellALERT).
- — Establishes the two distinct Clery tools and limits this policy's scope to the Ithaca campus.
Immediate-threat trigger and 'without delay'verbatim
In the event a situation arises that, in the judgment of the Chief of Cornell Police or their designee, constitutes a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of the campus community, an Emergency Mass Notification is written and distributed without delay to the campus.
- — Vests the activation decision in the Chief of Cornell Police or a designee and adopts the Clery 'without delay' timing standard.
Timely Warning triggerverbatim
In the event that a situation arises, which, in the judgment of the Chief of Cornell Police or their designee, constitutes a serious or continuing threat to students and employees of the institution, a campus-wide timely warning will be issued.
- — The Clery 'serious or continuing threat' standard that separates Crime Alerts from immediate-threat CornellALERT messages.
Semester testing cadencereconstructed
The CornellALERT system is tested each semester to ensure it works reliably and so our campus community is familiar with the sounds, messages, and channels used during real emergencies.
- — Reproduced from the Office of Emergency Management page via search-result text; the .edu host 403-blocks direct fetching in this environment, so marked not-confirmed despite distinctive phrasing.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- A CornellALERT/Emergency Mass Notification is issued when, in the judgment of the Chief of Cornell Police or their designee, a situation constitutes a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of the campus community. A Timely Warning (Crime Alert) is issued when such a situation constitutes a serious or continuing threat to students and employees.
- Who decides
- The Chief of Cornell Police or their designee determines whether to issue a CornellALERT/EMN or a Timely Warning.
- Timeliness standard
- When the immediate-threat criterion is met, the Emergency Mass Notification is written and distributed without delay to the entire university community.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- Two-track Clery framework: Emergency Mass Notifications (CornellALERT) for significant emergencies or dangerous situations posing an immediate threat, and Timely Warnings (Crime Alerts) for serious or continuing threats. Both are administered by the Cornell University Police Department under the Clery Act.
- Testing cadence
- The CornellALERT system is tested each semester.
- Scope & limits
- Scoped to the Ithaca campus community (Weill Cornell and Cornell Tech run separate notification systems). CornellALERT covers natural incidents (e.g., dangerous weather), unnatural events (e.g., explosive device, active shooter), and emergency changes to operating status. Email always reaches @cornell.edu addresses; voice and SMS reach only community members who have opted in.
ChannelsEmailSmsPhone CallSirenPa SystemWebsite
Analysis
Reading the policy
Pursuant to the Clery Act, the Cornell University Police Department provides emergency notifications to the Ithaca campus community in two forms: Timely Warnings (Crime Alerts) and Emergency Mass Notifications, branded as CornellALERT. The two tools track the Clery Act's two distinct triggers. A CornellALERT/EMN is issued when, in the judgment of the Chief of Cornell Police or their designee, a situation constitutes a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of the campus community; in that case the message is written and distributed without delay to the entire university community. A Timely Warning is issued when, in the judgment of the Chief of Cornell Police or their designee, a situation constitutes a serious or continuing threat to students and employees of the institution.
The decision authority for both notification types rests with the Chief of Cornell Police or a designee. CornellALERT covers a broad range of scenarios — natural incidents such as a tornado or other dangerous weather, unnatural events such as an explosive device or active shooter, and changes to university operating status driven by an emergency or weather event. The Office of Emergency Management notes that email notification is always sent to @cornell.edu addresses of current students, employees, and affiliates, and that, in addition, voice and SMS (text) messages are delivered to community members who have opted into those systems. For on-campus audibility, sirens/public address messages are also activated to the four towers on campus. By contrast, a Timely Warning/Crime Alert is distributed as an email and posted on the Division of Public Safety website rather than blasted through the full multi-channel EMN apparatus.
Cornell's Ithaca-campus alerting is built on Rave Mobile Safety; community members can enroll a mobile number or install the Rave Guardian app to receive CornellALERT messages on a cellular phone. (Separate Cornell units run separate platforms — Weill Cornell uses Everbridge for its Weill Cornell Alert, and Cornell Tech runs its own Rave-based mass-notification system in New York City — so this policy is scoped to the Ithaca campus.) Cornell states that the CornellALERT system is tested each semester so the campus community stays familiar with the sounds, messages, and channels used in a real emergency. Clery crime statistics and the Annual Security Report are administered by the Cornell University Clery Compliance Office, which publishes the federally mandated report ("Campus Watch") and reports statistics to the U.S. Department of Education.
Takeaways
Key findings
CornellALERT is Cornell's Emergency Mass Notification (EMN) tool; the Cornell University Police Department runs it alongside Clery Timely Warnings (Crime Alerts).
The Chief of Cornell Police or a designee decides when to activate either notification; immediate-threat CornellALERT messages go out 'without delay.'
Email always reaches @cornell.edu addresses; voice/SMS reach opt-in community members, and sirens/PA fire from the four campus towers.
The Ithaca campus runs on Rave Mobile Safety (Rave Guardian app); Weill Cornell uses Everbridge and Cornell Tech runs a separate Rave system.
The CornellALERT system is tested each semester; Clery statistics are reported in the Annual Security Report ('Campus Watch').
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
20 documented times Cornell’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
+ 12 more in the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- OfficialEmergency Notifications – Clery Act Compliance, Cornell Division of Public Safetypublicsafety.cornell.eduarchived copy
- Official
- OfficialHow To Receive CornellALERT Messages – Office of Emergency Managementemergency.cornell.eduarchived copy
- Official
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningclerycrime-alertravenew-yorkprivate-r1
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-06-21Via ingestion