The University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a donation that will greatly enhance the university’s ability to alert its students, staff and faculty in the event of an emergency.�

Alertus Technologies of Beltsville, Maryland, has begun an initiative to donate its computer desktop, emergency notification software to campuses and other public, not-for-profit institutions. The gift to the university is valued at over $20,000.

“With escalating threats and hazards, the need for instantaneous in-building notification has never been greater. Yet severe budget contractions are standing in the way of tens of millions of people's safety.� When we watch active shooter events unfold, we want to know our software is having the greatest impact possible,” says Alertus.

The Alertus Desktop Alert Software will allow the university to issue intrusive, emergency warnings directly to the desktop of over 3,000 computers within seconds. The emergency alert message will jump to the front of any work a user is doing.

“The software was easy to install and configure. Our technicians had the program up and running in our test environment in less than a day, “ said Karl Kowalski, executive director of User Services for the Office of Information Technology. “Working with the University Police Department and Marketing and Communications, we hope to have this fully operational and deployed by the end of the month.”

The Alertus Software will be a great compliment to the university’s emergency response plan which already includes telephone, text message, email, loudspeaker, digital displays and the campus cable television system.

“Our job is to keep people safe in the event of an emergency,” said UAF Police Chief Sean McGee. “The more tools we have in our arsenal to do that, the better off we will be and the safer our campus community will be.”

Since 2002, Alertus Technologies has specialized in implementing facility alerting systems for campuses, military bases, government facilities and other large facilities.

Alertus was founded out of the University of Maryland after a tornado ripped through the campus in 2001 killing two students without warning.� The company’s initial development activities and operations were financed by the State of Maryland.� Since then, thousands of Alert Beacons have been deployed at universities, military bases, government facilities, school districts, boarding schools, and medical centers, and other large area high occupancy facilities.

This gift comes at no cost to the University including a perpetual license, updates and support.


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OIT's Training & Development Group (part of the Support Center x8300) has their July training offerings available online - http://www.alaska.edu/oit/training

The TOAD Writer class is still under development and sessions will be added to the calendar when the class is available. TOAD Reader classes fill up quickly so check back often to see what is available.

IMPORTANT --> Roxen, Banner Navigation TOAD, QMenu, and QAdHoc will not be offered July 3 - August 1. If you have specific needs related to your functional area, please contact your functional area representative. Also, July 3 - August 1, support for Roxen, Banner Navigation, QMenu, QAdHoc, and TOAD will not be available from our office, so please contact your functional area representative.

Basic Banner training via the online Blackboard class is available; please contact Lynn Wrightsman at 474.6969 or lawrightsman@alaska.edu, to enroll in the on-line Banner class through Blackboard.

Blackboard walk-ins are every Friday (except July 16th) from 2-4 pm in 319B Bunnell and individualized training are available� as well - call Chris at ext 6796 or send him an email� - cgbeks@alaska.edu.

IMPORTANT ---> July 10-18 there will be limited Blackboard Support for faculty

Remember you can drop by and work with us anytime (although a call in advance will make sure that one of us IS available), or use our regular drop-in support times on Fridays (Blackboard 2-4 pm - Google Apps 1-2 pm).

Classes do fill up quickly so don't wait.� As always, departments or groups can request individualized trainings - just give us a call (Gary 474-6573 gabender@alaska.edu)

OIT's Training & Development Group (part of the Support Center x8300) has its June training offerings available online - http://www.alaska.edu/oit/training

Classes in June include

• Roxen
• Microsoft Excel
• TOAD
• Blackboard
• Google apps
• Banner Navigation
• Adobe Acrobat Pro

Go to the TRAINING CALENDAR for information or to register for a class.

OIT will not offer Banner related training in July. If you need Banner navigation training after the June class; please contact Lynn Wrightsman at 474.6969 or lawrightsman@alaska.edu, to enroll in the on-line Blackboard class.