Virginia Tech will conduct a full-scale test of its VT Alerts system Thursday, Aug. 28 on the Blacksburg campus as well as university facilities located in six regions across Virginia.

The test will occur between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

If you registered anyone other than yourself to receive these alert notifications via phone, text message, or email, please inform that person of the upcoming test.

If you do not receive a VT Phone Alerts message during the test, and you are subscribed to this service, please visit the VT Alerts website and click on the “Manage Your Account” link to verify that your record is correct. If the information is correct, but you did not receive the message, you are urged to contact 4Help at 540-231-HELP (4357).

Because VT Phone Alerts is intended to communicate urgent information to students, faculty, and staff on campus during an emergency, it is important that each subscriber carefully consider his points of contact. To review your account, visit the VT Alerts website and click on the “Manage Your Account” link.

In the event of an actual emergency, individuals must be aware of their surroundings and take immediate responsibility for their personal safety and security. Initial VT Alerts messages will provide basic information on what to do; further instructions and updates will be provided by subsequent VT Alerts messages or first responders. In-depth information, when available, will be posted to the university homepage.

The university will use multiple information delivery methods, including outdoor sirens, to reach students, faculty, and staff because, at any given time, one form of communication might be better than another.

The regional notification groups cover the following university locations:

  • Blacksburg (Virginia Tech main campus, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine);
  • National Capital Region (Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church, Va.; Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va.; Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension Center; Alexandria Center; Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory in Manassas, Va.; Virginia Tech Research Center -- Arlington);
  • Richmond (Virginia Tech Richmond Center);
  • Hampton Roads (Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Center, Virginia Beach; Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Center, Newport News);
  • Roanoke (Roanoke Higher Education Center, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute);
  • Abingdon (Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center); and
  • Danville (Institute for Advanced Learning and Research).

Visit the VT Alerts website for more information or to sign up.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

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