UChicago
2025-26 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report - Timely Security Alerts and cAlert
The University of Chicago's 2025-26 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report issues timely security alerts for Clery Act crimes that represent continuing threats, and uses cAlert to send messages in a significant emergency that requires immediate action. The emergency updates page states that students, faculty, staff, postdoctoral researchers, other academic appointees, and other University affiliates are automatically enrolled to receive cAlerts.
Read the official policycAlert
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
Timely security alertsverbatim
The University of Chicago issues timely security alerts for Clery Act crimes when incidents reported to the UCPD or other Campus Security Authorities represent continuing threats to the campus community.
- Named timely-warning product is timely security alerts.
cAlert significant-emergency triggerverbatim
The cAlert system sends messages to all University members in the event of a significant emergency that requires immediate action.
- cAlert is the emergency-notification product.
Significant emergency definitionverbatim
A significant emergency is defined as one that requires individuals to take urgent and immediate action to protect their health and safety.
- PDF wrap after individuals.
Automatic cAlert enrollmentverbatim
Students, faculty, staff, postdoctoral researchers, other academic appointees, and other University affiliates are automatically enrolled to receive cAlerts.
- Consumer-page auto-enrollment, including other University affiliates.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- Timely security alerts for Clery Act crimes that represent continuing threats. cAlert for a significant emergency that requires immediate action to protect health and safety.
- Who decides
- Incidents reported to UCPD or other Campus Security Authorities. The ASR does not name a single cAlert sender in the quoted sentences.
- Timeliness standard
- cAlert is for a significant emergency that requires immediate action. No minutes-based SLA is quoted.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- The ASR keeps Timely Security Alerts (continuing threat, Clery crime) distinct from cAlert (significant emergency requiring immediate action).
- Scope & limits
- Students, faculty, staff, postdoctoral researchers, and other academic appointees are auto-enrolled. The emergency page also names other University affiliates.
ChannelsSmsEmailPhone Call
Analysis
Reading the policy
UChicago (private-r1, six filed cases, no prior policy file; distinct from Columbia College Chicago, Loyola Chicago, and UIC) publishes a live 2025-26 ASR PDF (HTTP 200). Timely security alerts cover Clery Act crimes reported to UCPD or other CSAs that represent continuing threats. cAlert sends messages to all University members in a significant emergency that requires immediate action, defined as one that requires individuals to take urgent and immediate action to protect their health and safety. University students, faculty, staff, postdoctoral researchers, and other academic appointees are automatically enrolled with the directory email. The live emergency page (HTTP 200) auto-enrolls affiliates to receive cAlerts. A through cAlert system sentence on that page contains an NBSP before the link and is not quoted. Every excerpt was character-checked against the live PDF or HTML.
Takeaways
Key findings
Timely security alerts cover Clery Act crimes that are continuing threats.
cAlert is for a significant emergency requiring immediate action to protect health and safety.
University affiliates are automatically enrolled to receive cAlerts.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
4 documented times UChicago’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Clery ASRUniversity of Chicago 2025-26 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (PDF)safety-security.uchicago.eduarchived copy
- Official
Tags
policyclery-asremergency-notificationtimely-warningillinoisprivate-r1
Added 2026-09-14Updated 2026-09-14Via ingestion