The University of Washington is committed to keeping the campus community informed during emergencies and situations that might disrupt normal operations.
The University of Washington has developed UW Alert to disseminate information via email, text messages, loudspeakers, website banners and other means, as needed, to keep the campus community informed during emergencies and situations that might disrupt normal operations.
UW faculty, staff and students in Bothell, Seattle, Tacoma and at UW Medicine can subscribe to receive UW Alert messages via text and email.
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Note: A UW NetID is required. If you are currently signed up for UW Alert, please take a moment to verify and update your contact information. If you receive a notice that your UW Alert account is expiring, you can go to Manage Account to extend it.
What is UW Alert?
UW Alert is a notification system that quickly informs the UW community about an emergency situation that poses a potential threat to people’s health and safety. UW Alert messages are sent via email and text, as well as posted on Facebook, Twitter and the UW Alert blog. Incidents that prompt an alert message can include an active shooter, other violent crimes on or near campus, severe weather and hazardous materials (HazMat) responses. UW Alert messages are limited to 160 characters, so messages include a link to the UW Alert blog for more information as it becomes available.
What is UW Advisory and how is it different from UW Alert?
A UW Advisory works in the same way as UW Alert, but is used to make the community aware of a significant situation that could disrupt operations but does not pose an immediate threat to health and safety. These could include power outages, phone outages that could affect 911 service, suspended campus operations and perceived threats which police have determined to be unfounded. If you sign up for UW Alert, you are automatically also subscribed for UW Advisory messages. Nearly all messages include a link to the emergency blog for more information.
UW Alert Blog
The blog is activated when there’s an active alert. Additional information is posted on the blog as it becomes available.