UNC Student Affairs and ITS keep students connected through Rave
09.29.2008
University of North Carolina: Student Affairs and Information Technology Services (ITS) will jointly fund the UNC Mobile communication program for the 2008-2009 academic year. This initiative, through a partnership with Rave Wireless, provides students with mobile phone-based tools that include applications for mobile learning and student services as well as new and enhanced personal safety features.
“We have been exploring mobile communications for several years now and feel like this represents our strongest offering so far. UNC Mobile connects students, faculty and staff to the campus via a device they always have with them, their cell phone,” said Brian Payst, director of information technology for the division of student affairs.
This year, Rave Guardian offers students the safety equivalent of a “mobile blue light”.
Students traveling to a new location may call a toll free number, enter the length of time anticipated to reach their destination and leave a voice message with additional information. If the timer expires and the student has not deactivated Rave Guardian, campus police receive an alert on their communications center console. The student’s profile and the recorded message can then be accessed by the police to obtain additional information to assist in their response. With certain carriers, Rave Guardian can even pinpoint and map the location of the phone from the network.
Another Rave Guardian safety feature allows students to “panic call” campus police and have the same information immediately available to the police to use to respond.
Unlike older versions, Rave Guardian does not require students to have a data plan to start the Guardian timer or to send their information to campus police.
Users’ private data is stored securely and is available only to police and first responders when an urgent situation arises. Unless an alert is triggered, campus police can not track a student via Guardian and the student’s information is not transmitted and is discarded from the system.
“ITS recognizes campus safety as a top priority. We are pleased to be partnering with Student Affairs to bring the enhanced safety features of Rave Guardian to our campus community,” said Larry Conrad, vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer. “This new service complements nicely our existing program to register student cell phones numbers in our emergency management notification file.”
By registering with the UNC Mobile communication program, students can also opt to receive Blackboard course announcements, University e-mail, bus times from NextBus, and updates from the student calendar SLICE.
Recognized student organizations will also have a pre-configured Rave group set up for them that members can join. These groups can be used to send event announcements, polls and general information via text messages. Other groups can be created from within the Rave web site.
Carolina has partnered with Rave Wireless since 2005 when a small pilot group tested its text messaging, data sharing and emergency contact capabilities. Students have been able to register for the services since mid-July 2006.
To register for the services or to learn more, visit http://www.unc.edu/uncmobile .