The start of a new academic year is a good time to review your emergency preparedness for a range of possible scenarios we might face as a community, to update your emergency contact information, and to think about your own role in supporting a safe environment for everyone.
Review campus emergency procedures
The Office of Emergency Management provides helpful informationabout how members of the campus community should react in a range of situations. We encourage everyone to review this information.
Additionally, Santa Cruz is an earthquake fault zone, and October 17 is International ShakeOut Day, when millions of people worldwide will participate in earthquake drills at work, school, or home. Information about earthquake readiness is available online. At 10:17 a.m. (local time) on 10/17, you can join millions of people across the world practicing earthquake safety.
As a general practice, employees should always try to work with a clean desk, which includes:
- filing documents as soon as you are done with them;
- locking sensitive documents in secure drawers;
- shredding and recycling any documents that are no longer needed;
- locking your computer when you’re not using it or step away; and
- clearing your desk at the end of your workday
Update your emergency contact information
The UC Santa Cruz Campus Notification System is used to quickly communicate information to students, faculty and staff during a variety of situations that arise including emergencies and impactful events.
CruzAlert messages (text, phone call, and email) will notify the campus community about a significant emergency or dangerous situation on campus that involves an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees.
SlugSafe messages (text, email) do not require immediate action and are used for safety and operational impact(s) or advisory actions. These messages will include information about situations such as safety outreach, traffic conditions, non-severe weather events, and infrastructure outages.
Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to review their contact information to make sure it is up to date.
Supporting community safety
UC Santa Cruz is committed to maintaining a safe, supportive learning and working environment for all members of the campus community. The safety and well-being of our campus community is our highest priority, and we take all threats seriously to protect students, faculty, and staff.
Preventing violence on campus depends on UC Santa Cruz community members identifying and communicating behaviors of concern–early identification of concerns allows the campus to provide support and resources to those in need.
You can help by being aware of your surroundings on campus and reporting any unusual or concerning activity. We are all responsible for safety. If you see something, say and do something about it–report any concerning behavior and suspicious activity. The campus has information about reporting and support resources online.
