Emergency Notification

Kennesaw State University has developed a robust, multi-layered approach to emergency notification. This system is designed to reach the Kennesaw State University students, faculty, and staff in a variety of ways with immediate emergency messaging. Kennesaw State University utilizes outdoor warning sirens, email notifications, text notifications, voice phone call notifications, a desktop override system, the Kennesaw State University webpage, and social media pages to provide emergency messages to our students, faculty, staff, visitors, and other community stakeholders. The goal of this system is to provide multiple points of communication to ensure that the entire Kennesaw State University community is provide with timely and pertinent emergency messaging. 

For more information on each of our systems, please see the below information.

  • Kennesaw State University has six (6) sirens, three (3) on the Kennesaw Campus, one (1) at KSU Center, and two (2) at the Sports Park/Stadium area to notify the campus community of an immediate threat. These sirens can be activated by a variety of means by the Department of Public Safety and University Police and Office of Emergency Management. Cobb County EMA has one siren serving the Kennesaw Campus and two sirens serving the Marietta Campus. All three are activated by Cobb County EMA. The warning sirens at the Kennesaw Campus are omnidirectional sirens that have a prerecorded message to indicate the type of emergency situation that is occurring on campus. The siren warning system is only used for situations that require the KSU community to take shelter indoors immediately from an imminent threat. This system is tested at noon on the first Wednesday of every month.

  • The Mass Notification system is designed to send rapid emails, text messages, and/or phone message announcements to all faculty, staff, and students. Unlike many other universities nationwide, the system at Kennesaw State is an “opt out” system. This means that faculty, staff, and student data is automatically uploaded into the system and does not require the receiver to register for the system. The system has the ability to send text, email, and voice calls as well as push information out to social media outlets. Currently, Kennesaw State deploys Rave Alert as its mass notification system. This system is tested twice annually.

    To ensure you receive emergency alerts on your cellphone, please keep your information updated in OwlExpress (for students) and/or OneUSG Connect (for faculty and staff). Text alerts will only be sent if the phone numbers are listed as cellular or mobile phone types. If listed as any other phone type, only voice alerts will be sent.

  • When activated, an emergency notification message window will pop-up and be displayed on all computer monitors campus-wide. This message will remain on all computer screens until cancelled by original sender. This system also populates the scrolling marquee and digital signage across campus with the same message. This system is tested on the first Wednesday of every month.
  • The Campus Advisory page can be used for emergency or non-emergency messages and is linked directly to the front page of the Kennesaw State website.  This page can be accessed at www.kennesaw.edu/emergency.  Additionally, Kennesaw State University has activated a Health Advisories page, which can be accessed at www.kennesaw.edu/healthadvisory.

  • Kennesaw State University Office of Emergency Management maintains a Facebook page, X account,  and Instagram account. These social media accounts are maintained to provide daily valuable information to the Kennesaw State community. This includes weather updates, preparedness tips, and event announcements. The social media platforms are also used during emergency situations as a means of notification. Emergency notifications through social media would also be pushed to the main Kennesaw State Facebook page and X feeds.