UW Emergency Management

Crisis communication plan & UW Alert

The University of Washington is committed to keeping the campus community informed during emergencies and situations that might disrupt normal operations.

The UW’s crisis communication plan provides guidelines for communicating within the university and from the university to the media and the public in the event of an emergency. This plan is developed and implemented by a university-wide team to ensure that it is tested and updated on a regular basis.

The UW uses a mass notification system, called UW Alert, that allows each campus to send out advisories and alerts to students, faculty and staff.

UW emergency communication tools include:

  • Email
  • Text messages (SMS)
  • Social media (Facebook and Twitter)
  • UW website banner
  • UW Alert Blog
  • Outdoor alert
  • Indoor alert
  • UW Information Hotline (Seattle campus)

Each UW campus has a Crisis Communications Team, which meets during emergencies and sends alerts or advisories, if needed.