Several Dickinson State University students were awakened before 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, but it was far from a rude awakening for your average college student.
The students awoke to a ringing phone or an incoming text message as the campus' NotiFind system let them know classes were canceled and campus would be closed for the day.
"This NotiFind system is proving to be a valuable resource for us," Vice President of Student Development, Hal Haynes said.
The system, which students have the option of opting in or out of, contacts faculty, staff and students in the event of emergencies or other campus events using cell phones, residence hall room phones, home phones, e-mail and text messages.
Haynes said there are more than 5,330 devices that will get the message in the event one is sent out. Once sent, the individual is asked to press an acknowledgement button that informs the college it has been received.
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On Tuesday, only 4,880 acknowledgements were received, but Haynes said that makes sense because a lot of them were sent to faculty offices.
"Which makes perfect sense because why would they be in their office at 6:30 in the morning," Haynes said.
There was an unexpected impact from the message going out so early, however, more students showed up at the dining hall for hot breakfast, Haynes said.
"Most of them told us, well you called us and got us out of bed with this message, so we figured if we didn't have to go to class we'd go get something to eat," Haynes said.
Essential services on campus, such as the dining hall remained open so the students had someplace to eat, but other buildings on campus were closed all day.
Computer labs at May Hall and Weinbergen Gymnasium were opened later in the day so students could utilize them.
Terry Mulvey, buildings and grounds supervisor for DSU, said in his more than 20 years at the college he could only remember the campus being shutdown a handful of times, the last being in October 2005.
Director of University Relations, Ron Traecy said DSU has a good system in place to inform those on and off campus of anything regarding the college.
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Traecy said, in the end, the decision always comes down to safety.
"In any situation like this it's the safety of faculty, staff and students," Traecy said. "We don't want to put them in a situation where they're going to be in danger or unnecessarily put themselves in that situation."
