DU
Emergency Warnings and Notifications
The University of Denver's Department of Campus Safety (DCS) operates two distinct Clery-mandated alerting tracks: "DU Alert" emergency notifications for immediate threats and "Campus Safety Alert" timely warnings for serious or continuing Clery-crime threats, both administered out of the Office of Emergency Preparedness & Fire Safety.
Read the official policyInstitution
University of Denver
Private R1 · CO
~13,700 studentsDU Alert
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
DU Alert activation criteriaverbatim
DU has developed a comprehensive emergency notification system (DU Alert) that allows for the use of text messaging, emails, social media, and digital displays to immediately notify the DU community upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of student, faculty, and staff on the campus.
- — Tracks the Clery 668.46(g) emergency-notification standard nearly word-for-word; the 'confirmation' language is the gate that determines when DU may broadcast.
Campus Safety Alert (timely warning) scopeverbatim
Timely warnings, called a "Campus Safety Alert" may be distributed for any Clery-reportable crimes that represent a serious or continuing threat to the DU Community.
- — Establishes DU's distinct timely-warning brand ('Campus Safety Alert'), separate from the 'DU Alert' emergency-notification brand.
Confirmation gate before sendingverbatim
To avoid unnecessary panic, notifications are only sent by the DCS once confirmed by authorized individuals.
- — Articulates the policy rationale for requiring confirmation prior to broadcast — a tension point under Clery's 'without delay' expectation.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- A DU Alert emergency notification is issued upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students, faculty, or staff on campus. A Campus Safety Alert (timely warning) may be distributed for any Clery-reportable crime that represents a serious or continuing threat to the DU community, evaluated case-by-case.
- Who decides
- Emergency notifications (DU Alert) are sent by the Department of Campus Safety only once confirmed by authorized individuals. Timely warning decisions run through a decision matrix reviewed by the AVC/Chief of Campus Safety, Deputy Chief, Commander, Patrol Captain, Manager of Emergency Preparedness, and the Office of General Counsel; the alert is normally drafted and issued by the Clery and Compliance Coordinator or the Manager of Emergency Preparedness.
- Timeliness standard
- Emergency notifications are intended to immediately notify the DU community and expedite emergency response and/or evacuation; the system is described as pushing messages to everyone affiliated with the University in a very short period of time, sent only after confirmation to avoid unnecessary panic.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- DU explicitly separates the two Clery tracks: 'DU Alert' = emergency notification (immediate on-campus threat); 'Campus Safety Alert' = timely warning (serious or continuing Clery-crime threat). Both are documented in the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.
- Testing cadence
- Quarterly tests of the emergency notification system plus an annual full DU Alert test (e.g., March 14, 2025); all tests, drills, and exercises documented with description, date, time, and whether announced or unannounced.
- Scope & limits
- Text-message DU Alerts are opt-in: students, faculty, staff, and parents must register a personal cellular device in the My4D web portal to receive SMS. All members of the DU community receive an email when a DU Alert is sent.
ChannelsSmsEmailTwitter XFacebookWebsiteDigital SignagePush Notification
Analysis
Reading the policy
The University of Denver distinguishes between the two federal alerting obligations cleanly. An **emergency notification** is branded a "DU Alert" and is triggered "upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety" of students, faculty, and staff on campus. The Office of Emergency Preparedness & Fire Safety maintains the Emergency Notification System and describes it as capable of pushing emergency messages to everyone affiliated with the University in a very short period of time. To prevent unnecessary panic, the policy states notifications are only sent by DCS once the situation has been confirmed by authorized individuals — a deliberate confirmation gate rather than an instant auto-broadcast.
The **timely warning** track is branded a "Campus Safety Alert" and is reserved for Clery-reportable crimes that represent a serious or continuing threat to the DU community, evaluated case-by-case. DU runs the decision through a timely warning decision matrix: the matrix and the incident report are provided to the Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief of Campus Safety, the Deputy Chief, the Commander of Campus Safety, the Patrol Captain, the Manager of Emergency Preparedness, and the Office of General Counsel, who collectively determine whether a warning is warranted. If one is, a staff member — usually the Clery and Compliance Coordinator — drafts the Campus Safety Alert, and timely warning notices are normally issued by either the Clery and Compliance Coordinator or the Manager of Emergency Preparedness.
**Channels.** DU Alert communication modes include text message, email, social media, the DU Safe app, and digital displays in select campus areas; timely warning notices are distributed via mass email to University email accounts of all employees and students and may also be posted to the Department of Campus Safety's X (Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram accounts and the DU SAFE app. Text-message delivery is opt-in — community members register a personal cellular device through the My4D web portal.
**Testing.** DU documents regularly scheduled tests, drills, and exercises of its emergency response and evacuation procedures, recording for each the description, date, time, and whether it was announced or unannounced. Campus Safety tests the emergency notification system each quarter and conducts an annual full test of DU Alert (the most recent annual test cited was March 14, 2025).
Takeaways
Key findings
DU uses two distinct brands for the two Clery obligations: 'DU Alert' for emergency notifications and 'Campus Safety Alert' for timely warnings.
Emergency notifications require confirmation by authorized individuals before being sent, explicitly to avoid unnecessary panic.
Timely warnings run through a documented decision matrix reviewed by senior Campus Safety leadership plus the Office of General Counsel, and are normally drafted/issued by the Clery and Compliance Coordinator.
Channels span SMS (opt-in via My4D), email (all community members), social media (X, Facebook, Instagram), the DU Safe app, and campus digital displays.
The system is tested quarterly with an additional annual full DU Alert test (most recent cited: March 14, 2025); every test is logged as announced or unannounced.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
2 documented times DU’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Clery ASR
- Official
- Clery ASR
- Official
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningcleryprivate-r1colorado
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-06-21Via ingestion