Cougar Alert Emergency System

Cougar alert is an emergency communication system that sends notification before, during and after an emergency to the entire campus community (students, faculty and staff). With this system, the College is able to communicate in many modes, including voice messages to home, work and cell phones; text messages to cell phones, PDAs and other devices; written messages to e-mail accounts; and messages to teletypewriters and telecommunication devices (TTY/TDD) for the hearing impaired. In combination with our existing communications methods and emergency response plans, this notification system significantly enhances the College's ability to maintain a learning environment in which students are safe, secure and comfortable.
Please visit http://emergency.cofc.edu/cougaralert/index.php for more information on the Cougar Alert System

If a major emergency occurs, the College will activate the Emergency Management Team, which will provide up-to-date information to campus and aid in short-term and long-term decision making. Cougar Alert will be initiated without delay as is reasonably possible and without compromising efforts to assist victims or contain, respond to, or mitigate the emergency, at the order of the Executive Vice President for Marketing and Communications, the Chief/Director of Public Safety and/or the President of the College of Charleston. Alerts are used only in the case of a campus emergency that include, but are not limited to:

• bomb threats or other imminent violent threats
• fires, hazardous spills or gas leaks affecting the entire campus
• building evacuations and lockdown affecting the entire campus
• biological or pandemic emergency notification
• natural disasters
• power outages or utility failures resulting in an imminent threat
• campus closure due to weather or declared civil emergency

Once the determination of an emergency on campus is made by Public Safety representatives, Media Relations sends out the appropriate message on the Cougar Alert system (via phone and email) and posts the information at http://emergency.cofc.edu/index.php. Information may also be obtained from the emergency information hotline, 843.725.7246.

Two tests of the Cougar Alert System were conducted on 3/20/08 and 9/2/08. Both tests had prior notifications in order to encourage the campus community to update contact information. A review of the data from both tests was presented at meetings of the Emergency Management Team offering opportunity to make changes and fine tune the system.

Evacuation Procedures

Our emergency information page located at http://emergency.cofc.edu/index.php. provides information relevant to fires, building evacuation procedures, suspicious packages, bomb threats, suspicious behavior/persons of concern, and active shooters. For a full disclosure of our evacuation procedures for hazardous weather, please visit our residence hall website at http://reslife.cofc.edu/?page=weather. Training of Public Safety personnel and drills relevant to emergencies on campus are ongoing. Emergency evacuation of our residence halls are conducted throughout the year.

Students of Concern Committee and Faculty Assisting Students in Trouble (F.A.S.T.)

These intervention programs bring to the attention of qualified administrators specific issues that appear to pose a risk to the academic mission of an individual or the campus community. Each situation/individual's circumstances are thoroughly reviewed and addressed through appropriate intervention resources, or through policies that protect the welfare of both the individual and the campus community.

Peer Assistance Leaders (PAL)

This newly formed student patrol program brings together students from the College of Charleston, Charleston Southern University, and the Citadel to work conjointly with City of Charleston Police Department in order to promote greater student safety and to avoid risky situations that could result in criminal victimization. Student patrols demonstrate the ongoing partnership between the City of Charleston and the College in promoting student safety. For more information go to www.cofc.edu/studentaffairs/outreach/pal.html

Annual Programming

Specific orientation presentations focus on providing information regarding crimes against the college-age population that include sexual assault and drugs used to commit sexual assault. Additionally, these sessions offer risk reduction techniques to help reduce one’s vulnerability to crime and highlight the campus resources in place to work with any student who may become a victim of a crime.

First Book, an on-line publication, features a “staying safe” section that reinforces information presented during orientation sessions. Numerous hard copy publications such as Guide to Safer Living, Fear Factors 101 and specialty brochures on various personal safety concerns are available for both parents and students. Both the New Student Day and the Street Fair during orientation for parents/students offers a variety of information on safety and resources. Orientation sessions for all new permanent/adjunct faculty and employees provide comprehensive information on safety initiatives and resources, and information on available intervention and assistance programs.

Specialized events during Welcome Back Week focus on providing comprehensive safety information to students. Our sexual assault awareness campaign called S.A.F.E.R. (Sexual Assault Facts and Emergency Resources) offers tips, resource information, highlights our sexual misconduct policy and includes sexual assault programming. Over 5,000 S.A.F.E.R. packets are distributed to include individual packets placed on the bed of each residence hall student before check in. The 2008 Information Series featured newly-designed print media on sexual assault/consent distributed throughout campus. During a special meet-and-greet cookout for students, safety information is distributed and the use of campus-based resources encouraged.

A variety of programs are available during Campus Safety Awareness month to include NV DAY: No Violence-No Victims. During this campaign over 5,000 wristbands promoting no violence-no victims are distributed. Programming and events are designed to build awareness, foster involvement, and feature resources both on and off campus. A candlelight vigil highlights the stories of college students whose lives have been impacted by crime.

Topical initiatives at high-risk times (ex., Halloween, Spring Break) are all annual events.

The Community Watch newsletter is distributed bi-annually to students living off campus featuring relevant community safety concerns and crime prevention information acquired from local law enforcement sources.

Residence hall security sessions are conducted throughout the semester to provide relevant security procedures and personal safety information to those living within the residence halls and houses.

Throughout the year, Campus Police, C.A.R.E., students involved in our nationally-recognized chapter of One in Four Men’s Outreach Against Sexual Violence, Counseling and Substance Abuse Services, Health Education, and Residence Life and Housing offer a variety of programming, classroom presentations, training, community-events participation, email outreach, and public awareness campaign efforts. These efforts promote our individual and collective role in achieving personal and community safety.

SAFERIDE

Operating within the downtown City of Charleston limits, this service provides nighttime transportation between the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. to students who find themselves in unsafe situations where transportation is unavailable and they must walk alone to or from a downtown location back to campus or their private residence. There is no charge for any valid SAFERIDE service by a student. To access the service:

• Call 843-216-2627 (Charleston Black Cab) or 843-577-6565 (Yellow Cab) and let the dispatcher know you are a C of C student using the SAFERIDE service.
• Give your name, pick-up location and the exact address to where you are going.
• Wait at the pick-up location and watch for the cab
• Show your valid College of Charleston ID to the driver and give him/her your completed SAFERIDE card. If you don't have a card with you, the driver will ask you to sign your name and provide your Student ID Number (NOT your social security number).
• If you are in a dangerous or emergency situation, call 9-1-1.
• Be accessible. Stay by a phone. The SAFERIDE dispatcher may need to call you if there is a problem or delay.

SAFERIDE cards can be picked up at the following locations: Stern Center Information Desk, all residence hall desks, Public Safety and the Library. http://studentaffairs.cofc.edu/general_info/saferide/

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