Whether you’re on campus for your first semester or a returning student, faculty or staff member, it’s important to know how to efficiently find accurate information during emergencies.
The Division of Public Safety, which includes the CU Boulder Police Department, Events & Emergency Management, Threat Assessment and Flight Operations, provides comprehensive safety tools and resources for the campus community.
That includes timely notifications about emergencies and other situations that may impact campus.
Please bookmark the university’s alerts website, which outlines the three levels of notifications that can be sent, depending on the nature, location and severity of an incident. The alerts website also outlines how to receive alerts, which can differ depending upon the type of alert that is sent.
For a review of all three notification levels and how each type of alert is shared, keep reading.
CU Alert
CU Boulder issues emergency notifications, called CU Emergency Alerts, to the campus community when there is a confirmed immediate threat to the safety of those on our campus (or near campus in areas of high student populations).
Such threats may include an active harmer, a natural disaster, severe weather or other time-sensitive life safety concerns. CU Emergency Alerts can also be used in the event of campus closures or delayed starts.
These alerts are sent out via text message, email, social media and posted to the alerts site.
CU Safety Alert
Along with CU Emergency Alerts, campus also issues CU Safety Alerts in accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act).
CU Safety Alerts are notifications to campus community members, sent to their colorado.edu email accounts, for certain reported crimes committed on or near campus that represent a serious or ongoing threat. These include: criminal homicide, sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, hate crimes, domestic/dating violence and stalking.
CU Advisory
For non-immediate threats or other incidents that may impact the daily lives of our university community, CU Boulder has a tier of notifications called CU Advisories.
CU Advisories are notifications to the campus that do not rise to the level of an emergency notification or safety alert but are high-profile enough that our campus community benefits from awareness. These are shared via social media and on our alerts site.
Find additional information
In the case of campus emergencies, the university’s alerts website will be updated with new information as soon as it is available, usually within 15 to 20 minutes of the first text message alert. All official alerts shared on social media will also be on this page along with links to additional emergency resources including the CU Boulder Police website and Emergency Management website.
How to receive CU Boulder alerts
Anyone with a colorado.edu email address is automatically registered to receive emergency and safety alert emails. Additionally, we highly encourage you to add your mobile phone number to receive text alerts by going to the Buff Portal or your MyCUInfo portal. You can even choose from a list of preferred languages in which to receive alerts. See the language instructions on the alerts site.
How to receive Boulder alerts
If you're in the Boulder area on a regular basis, read about emergency preparedness and sign up for city of Boulder alerts. You can also opt into countywide alerts to ensure you’re receiving the latest emergency updates on off-campus incidents.
