Warning Systems

Emergency Lighting

Emergency lighting is installed in most campus facilities and is checked annually for functionality by a professional vendor (Simplex Grinnell).

Emergency Notification

A comprehensive list of persons or agencies to contact in the event of a variety of emergency situations (Appendix Four) is maintained by the campus safety and parking committee and distributed at least annually to members of the campus community and to the West Plains Fire and Police Departments.

Fire Alarms

An inventory of fire alarms (Fire Safety Report) is maintained by business and support services. Alarms are checked annually for functionality.

Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are located in each campus facility. The devices are checked monthly for functionality.

Missouri State Alert

Missouri State Alert is the University's mass notification system, which uses a variety of methods to contact students, faculty and staff in the event of an emergency or school closing. During an urgent situation, the Missouri State Alert system will cycle through contact methods listed for your account to deliver the alert, starting with the first available. When you receive the message, it is very important that you confirm receipt when prompted. If no confirmation is received, Missouri State Alert will continue cycling through your points of contact. Currently enrolled students, faculty and staff are automatically subscribed to Missouri State Alert and have the ability to choose how they prefer to be contacted.  You'll be able to select the contact options you'd like the system to use and you can come back at any time to change your selection. Subscription information will not be shared. To change subscription settings or to opt-out of the system, access the Missouri State Alert page.

Because of the significant number of commuter students on the Missouri State-West Plains campus, the system will only send emergency/weather alerts when classes are in session. Students should utilize another system for 24/7 emergency/weather alert coverage.

 

Public Availability of Safety Reports

Under the ruling of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, security records, including personally identifiable information regarding students, are available for public disclosure and release. The judicial order requires this disclosure under the Missouri Sunshine Law (construed to protect the name and address of a victim whose identifiable assailant is still at large). Missouri State-West Plains has adopted security records access release guidelines which are available from the office of student life and development.

 

Right to Know

Certain information is federally mandated and is annually provided to every employee and student of Missouri State University-West Plains out of concern for their welfare and in compliance with federal laws. The most recent Annual Security Report for MSU-West Plains.