UNC officials are implementing a phone system that alerts campus police when students are in danger.
Beginning this fall, the University will offer the Rave Guardian program, which uses a Global Positioning System timer to notify police of students’ locations when needed.
“You can set a timer on your phone that says: ‘If I don’t reset this timer, I want you to send a signal to campus police,’” said Larry Hicks, director of the Department of Housing and Residential Education.
When the time expires, the phone alerts the student, and if it’s not turned off, Rave contacts campus police, who can locate the phone using GPS technology.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, campus security is on everyone’s mind, but UNC officials were planning to implement Rave Guardian before Monday’s shootings.
UNC officials are in negotiations with different providers and do not know the exact costs associated with purchasing the program.
Hicks said the housing department plans to offer a reduced price on GPS phones to all on-campus students next year.
There will be a push for incoming freshmen to buy the phones, which will be promoted at C-TOPS.
The program is part of the Rave Wireless system, an existing service that allows students to receive text messages about Blackboard updates and bus routes. The service also has an emergency broadcasting system.