Gonzaga
ZagAlert Frequently Asked Questions
Gonzaga University's ZagAlert is the school's emergency notification system, described on its FAQ page and the Keeping the Community Informed page, which also draws an explicit line between ZagAlert emergency notifications and separate Clery Act timely warnings.
Read the official policyInstitution
Gonzaga University
Private R2 · WA
~7,500 studentsZagAlert
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
Purpose of ZagAlertreconstructed
ZagAlert...to help ensure the safety and security of the campus community by providing rapid notification of life-saving information during emergencies.
- — Reconstructed from a page-title style search snippet with an ellipsis gap; treated as not fully verbatim-confirmed pending direct access to the live page.
Automatic enrollment for current affiliatesverbatim
All Gonzaga students, faculty, and staff are automatically enrolled in ZagAlert and will receive emergency notifications at their Gonzaga email address.
- — Confirms opt-out (auto-enrolled) design for the core community, with Gonzaga email as the guaranteed baseline channel.
Opt-in for non-affiliated recipientsverbatim
Non-current students, faculty or staff can opt-in to the system by texting the word "ZagAlert" to 77295.
- — Extends the system beyond current affiliates through a simple text-to-join short code.
Simultaneous multi-channel deliveryverbatim
In the deployment of the ZagAlert notification system, recipients will simultaneously receive voice messages to all numbers provided, text messages to all mobile numbers provided and email messages.
- — Documents that all channels fire at once rather than escalating sequentially through voice, text, and email.
Timely Warning distinct from ZagAlertverbatim
Timely Warnings are issued to inform the community about crimes or campus activity that present an immediate, serious, or ongoing threat to the community.
- — Draws Gonzaga's Clery two-track line between ZagAlert emergency notifications and separate timely warnings.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- ZagAlert is used for emergencies, incidents, or disasters that impact the campus environment or the Gonzaga community, including university closures due to inclement weather or other safety concerns. Timely Warnings are issued separately for crimes or campus activity presenting an immediate, serious, or ongoing threat that does not require an immediate response.
- Who decides
- A named single approving official was not reproduced verbatim in the sources reviewed; ZagAlert is administered through Gonzaga's Office of Emergency Preparedness and Risk Management in coordination with Campus Security and Public Safety.
- Timeliness standard
- Gonzaga states it will send the first ZagAlert message as soon as verified information is available, with the initial message focused on any immediate life-saving measures necessary; a specific minutes-based numeric standard was not reproduced verbatim in the sources reviewed.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- Gonzaga explicitly separates ZagAlert (emergency notifications for immediate campus threats) from Timely Warnings (informing the community of criminal activity presenting a serious or ongoing threat that does not require an immediate response).
- Testing cadence
- A specific testing cadence for ZagAlert was not reproduced verbatim in the sources reviewed.
- Scope & limits
- Automatic enrollment covers current students, faculty, and staff via their Gonzaga email; personal cell numbers must be added in ZagWeb for text/voice coverage, and non-affiliated community members must opt in by texting ZagAlert to 77295.
ChannelsSmsEmailPhone CallWebsite
Analysis
Reading the policy
ZagAlert is built for rapid, life-safety messaging rather than general campus news: Gonzaga's ZagAlert page describes the system as providing rapid notification of life-saving information during emergencies. Enrollment is automatic and opt-out for the core community, all Gonzaga students, faculty, and staff are automatically enrolled in ZagAlert and will receive emergency notifications at their Gonzaga email address, and students can extend coverage by adding personal and family members' cell phone numbers in their ZagWeb profile to receive alerts via text, email, and phone call. Reach beyond current affiliates is available on request, non-current students, faculty, or staff can opt in by texting the word ZagAlert to 77295.
Delivery is deliberately redundant across channels rather than sequential: in a deployment, recipients will simultaneously receive voice messages to all numbers provided, text messages to all mobile numbers provided, and email messages, so a single activation reaches every registered contact point for a person at once rather than escalating channel by channel. Gonzaga states the first ZagAlert message goes out as soon as verified information is available, with the initial message focused on any immediate life-safety measures necessary, prioritizing speed and actionability (evacuate versus shelter, areas to avoid) over completeness in that first message.
Gonzaga treats ZagAlert and Clery timely warnings as two distinct instruments rather than one. Timely Warnings are designed to inform community members of criminal activity that does not require an immediate response, issued to inform the community about crimes or campus activity that present an immediate, serious, or ongoing threat. That framing puts ZagAlert on the emergency-notification side of the Clery Act's two-track structure (immediate danger requiring action now) and timely warnings on the informational side (a serious threat pattern the community should know about, without necessarily requiring an in-the-moment response). Campus Security and Public Safety is reachable directly at 509-313-2222 for non-911 safety needs, and the university separately offers the Guardian personal-safety app with safety timers, a call directory, and emergency-call functionality as a complement to the mass-notification system.
Takeaways
Key findings
ZagAlert automatically enrolls current students, faculty, and staff at their Gonzaga email address; personal/family cell numbers must be added separately in ZagWeb for text and voice coverage.
Non-affiliated community members can opt in with a simple text-to-join short code (text ZagAlert to 77295).
A ZagAlert activation delivers voice, text, and email simultaneously to every number and address on file, rather than escalating channel by channel.
Gonzaga explicitly separates ZagAlert (emergency notifications requiring immediate action) from Timely Warnings (informing the community of a serious or ongoing threat that does not require an immediate response).
The first ZagAlert message is sent as soon as verified information is available and is focused on immediate life-safety instructions rather than full incident detail.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
4 documented times Gonzaga’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Official
- Official
- Official
- Student Paper
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningclery-actzagalertprivate-r2washingtonspokane
Added 2026-07-03Updated 2026-07-03Via ingestion