Hello again, Bears! Welcome back to another blog post. This week, I wanted to discuss a resource that I think every student should be aware of. Have you ever spotted a tall red pole with a light on the top during your walks around campus, or received a Missouri State Alert on your phone? These features and many more come from the University Safety Office. As a student, you have all of the services listed here available to keep you safe while you are on campus, and you should absolutely know about them in case you ever encounter an emergency or unsafe situation.  

Blue Light Telephones

Remember those tall red poles with a light on the top that I mentioned a few sentences ago? Those happen to be one of my favorite safety features on campus. You have most likely seen one or several of these telephone poles any time that you’ve walked around campus. These poles, while they may appear unassuming, can provide essential help during an emergency situation. If you ever encounter an emergency or feel unsafe on campus, you can press the emergency button on the pole to activate the blue light at the top and immediately be connected to a dispatcher that is familiar with campus and can view your location via security cameras. University Safety also has a blue light telephone map of where all of the blue light telephone poles on campus are located on their website.  

Safe Walk

This is yet another great safety service available to you as a student. Safe Walk is an on-campus walking service that is available at any given time if you need an escort to walk with you from one location to another. University Safety works incredibly hard to keep our campus safe at all times, but this service is especially great if you are studying or on campus late at night and feel unsafe walking back to your car or residence hall. To receive this service, you can call 417-836-5509, and a campus safety specialist will be dispatched to you.  

Missouri State Alert 

Out of the three services listed here, Missouri State Alert is the one that you might be the most familiar with, considering that every student and faculty member is automatically enrolled in Missouri State Alert by being present on campus. If you ever receive a Missouri State Alert, whether on your phone or through email, it’s very important that you pay attention to these messages, as they usually detail university closings or potential emergencies that you need to be aware of. If you would like, you can manage your preferences for how you receive Missouri State alerts by visiting the Missouri State Alert page on the University Safety website.  

Takeaways 

Along with the services listed here, University Safety is an incredible resource that offers many other services to you. If you would like to learn more about all of the services available or how you can contact University Safety, the University Safety page on the Missouri State website contains all of this information and more.  

Our Peer Mentors and Success Coaches here in the CAST office can also help direct you to any on-campus resources that you might be interested in learning more about. Consider visiting us during our drop-in hours (Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.) or requesting a meeting online. As you complete your midterms and get ready for Spring Break, I hope that you have a strong and satisfying finish to the first half of your semester!  

~Hallie 

(Bio: I am a junior out-of-state student studying Creative Writing and Philosophy.)