Emergency Notification System to be tested Friday

Students, staff and faculty are reminded to update their emergency contact info in their Esther account by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20, so that it can be incorporated into the database for a test of Rice’s Emergency Notification System later this week.

The Crisis Management Team will conduct the test around noon. Students, faculty and staff should receive at text to the cellphone number they provided as their emergency contact number.

“It’s extremely important that we have a way to communicate timely, critical information to you to protect your safety when we experience an emergency,” said Kevin Kirby, chair of the Crisis Management Team, in an email to the Rice community Jan. 19.

The text will come from Rice’s special emergency notification phone number (713-348-8888). Members of the Rice community should add that number to their cellphone contacts so that they know the text is from the Rice Crisis Management Team (CMT).

Students, faculty and staff can check the information in their Esther account by logging in to their account at https://esther.rice.edu/ and clicking on the link to the Rice University Emergency Notification System near the top of the main menu. (Esther has a “Forgot PIN” feature.) Anyone who does not want Rice to contact them during an emergency can check the “opt out” box at the bottom of the form, but this may prevent them from getting notices intended to protect their safety.

“We use the system sparingly and only for emergencies,” Kirby said.

Employees with questions about how to fill out the emergency notification form can email people@rice.edu or call Human Resources at 713-348-2514; students who need assistance can email registrar@rice.eduor call the Office of the Registrar at 713-348-4999.

Anyone who has entered their emergency contact information but doesn’t receive a text  from the Crisis Management Team on Jan. 22 should send an email to cmtcomment@rice.edu that states their name, cellphone number and the name of their cellphone service provider.