Milligan students and employees can access multiple campus safety resources through MU Safe, a free mobile app introduced in late August.
The app is part of a broader effort to strengthen campus safety through several connected resources, according to Chase McGlamery, director of campus safety.
“We’re taking a very layered approach to campus safety,” McGlamery said.
MU Safe also connects with MU Alert, Milligan’s emergency notification system. According to McGlamery, users can receive emergency alerts through the app even if they are not signed up for text alerts.
Campus safety and the Information Technology Office began developing the app in June. McGlamery said it was released during the last week of August after completing the approval process through Apple and Google.
“The main goal of the app is really to give students resources at their fingertips,” McGlamery said.
Those resources include emergency plans, options for contacting campus safety, reporting tools and features that allow users to share their location with a contact of their choice.
One feature McGlamery encouraged students to explore is the mobile blue light. Like the physical blue light emergency poles on campus, the mobile feature gives users a way to request help. McGlamery said the app offers calling and texting options and can share a user’s location to help responders find them.
The mobile blue light feature works only when users are within the virtual geofence, a digital perimeter drawn around a real-world geographic area, around campus. McGlamery said this boundary helps prevent users from accidentally contacting campus safety for an off-campus emergency.
Providing a location can help emergency responders arrive more quickly. McGlamery said campus safety’s average response time is less than five minutes, but determining someone’s exact location can delay the process.
Another feature, Friend Walk, allows users to share their location with someone from their phone contacts as they travel.
The selected contact receives a text message with a link and must accept the request before the walk begins. Once connected, the contact can follow the user’s movement. Ending the trip stops location sharing and notifies the contact that the user has arrived.
If a problem occurs during the walk, the user can activate an emergency option to alert the selected contact, who can then request help for the user.
Unlike the mobile blue light, Friend Walk can be used throughout the United States, McGlamery said. Students can use it when returning to campus late at night, traveling with an athletic team or visiting another location.
Addressing privacy concerns, McGlamery said the app does not continuously collect users’ location information. He said location information is shared only when a user activates a feature that requires it, and campus safety does not monitor Friend Walk trips in real time.
Students can also use MU Safe to report concerns such as suspicious activity, medical situations and power outages.
McGlamery said reports submitted through the app go directly to him. He then determines who needs the information and what response is appropriate. Reports are automatically considered confidential, he said.
More than 300 people had downloaded the app at the time of the interview, McGlamery said. That total includes students and employees, though he could not provide separate counts for each group.
Milligan plans to continue promoting the app through email, QR codes placed throughout campus and future freshman orientations. McGlamery encouraged students to explore the app’s features.
“You know, students live on their phones,” McGlamery said. “And so, we’re trying to give them resources and pathways to connect with campus safety where they’re already at.”
Photo: Milligan University (Credit: Danielle Roberts)
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