Preparing for emergencies on campus

The Environmental Health and Safety Office collaborates with a variety of university departments to provide important information on how to prepare and respond to emergencies that may occur on campus. We have made it easy for you and your student to find the resources you need to prepare yourself for emergency situations that may arise on campus. Emergencies strike with little to no notice, so don’t hesitate – please encourage your student to become Mason Ready!

Be Prepared: Emergencies strike with little to no notice, so don’t hesitate – take a moment right now to get yourself Mason Ready. We’ve made it easy for you to find the resources you need to prepare yourself for emergency situations that may arise on campus. Our ready.gmu.edu website provides resource pages designed to address the needs of specific audiences and their preparedness needs.

Be Informed: We have also prepared a page dedicated to emergency preparedness resources for your student and you, and encourage you to share this information with your Mason scholar. As part of the university community, we have an obligation to protect the privacy of your student in addition to all members of the university community, and we encourage you to be in conversation with your student about their safety and preparedness.

Go Mobile: The university maintains an emergency notification system that is used to send emergency messages to the university community via text message, email, and telephone calls. We encourage you to have your student register their cell phone information by visiting ready.gmu.edu/masonalert.

Parents and families are able to receive emergency notifications via their student’s account. Talk with your student about registering your email address and phone numbers in their student account to ensure you receive the information, while they continue to be a student at the university.

The university is uses a mobile campus safety application “Rave Guardian” to enhance student preparedness and safety by allowing students to create a network of friends, family and campus safety professionals on their phone. The mobile application allows students to submit anonymous, two-way crime reporting through text and picture messaging. The application is available to all students with a university email address for free through the iTunes app store or the Google Play Store.

We encourage you to talk to your student about safety on campus, personal preparedness and how you will communicate with one another if a crisis should occur. For more information on resources provided to students, families and visitors, visit ready.gmu.edu or contact the Environmental Health and Safety Office at (703) 993-8448.

David Farris
Executive Director, Safety and Emergency Management
Environmental Health and Safety