Subscribe to WashUAlerts

Each member of the Washington University in St. Louis community is responsible for making sure his/her contact information is accurate and current in the Student Information System (SIS) or Workday.

The information you provide is protected and will be used for emergency communications only. No spamming will occur, as your information is not shared with any other parties, and only authorized university personnel may send messages using WashUAlerts.

The university does not charge a fee for the WashUAlerts system. However, depending on your wireless carrier and your calling plan, you may be charged when you receive a WashUAlerts text message or phone call.

At this time, WashUAlerts can send messages only to @wustl.edu addresses. You may be able to forward your @wustl.edu account to another account, but that will result in a delay in message delivery.

If you have questions about your ability to receive text messages, contact your service provider for this information. If all your contact information is current and accurate and you still don’t receive emergency messages, contact Matt Arthur, director of incident communications solutions.

Students

You are already registered to receive emails with important information in the event of a campus emergency. When you add your cell phone number to WebSTAC (SIS) you will automatically be signed up for the emergency text message option. Follow these instructions to add your contact information:

1. Log into WebSTAC (SIS).
2. Click ‘Addresses’ under ‘Contact Information’ in the ‘Welcome to WebSTAC’ column on the left side of the website.
3. Add the cell phone information you want contacted in an emergency to either ‘Home’ or ‘Local’ addresses.

In order to remain current in the Washington University ENS, please be sure you keep your contact information updated in WebSTAC (SIS).

Faculty and staff

You are already registered to receive emails with important information in the event of a campus emergency. When you add your cell phone number to the Workday system you will automatically be signed up for the emergency text message option. Follow these instructions to add your contact information:

1. Log into Workday.
2. Click on ‘Personal Information’.
3. Under the ‘Change’ box, Click on ‘Contact Information’.
4. Click the ‘Edit’ button at the top of the page.
5. Under the ‘Phone’ box, click the pencil icon to edit an existing number or ‘Add’ to add a new number.
6. Click the orange ‘Submit’ box.
7. If you have any problems, please call the Help Desk at 314-935-WDAY.

In order to remain current in the Washington University ENS, please be sure you keep your contact information updated in Workday.

Technical information for Blackberry users

Some Blackberry models require different browser settings in order to view and/or reply to the message. Details on browser configuration and what is needed to be able to confirm receipt of messages via Blackberry links: Please go to Options>Advanced Options>Browser – make sure the default browser configuration is the Blackberry Browser and the default MDS browser configuration is also the Blackberry Browser. You may also want to go to the Browser Push menu and ensure ‘Push’, ‘MDS Push’ and ‘WAP Push’ are all enabled.

Blackberry devices provide up to three browser configurations:

• WAP Browser: Connects to the network using a WAP gateway
• Blackberry Browser: Connects to the network using the Mobile Data Service of the Blackberry Enterprise Server
• Internet Browser: Connects to the network using the Blackberry Internet Service

Of the three, only the Blackberry Browser provides SSL capabilities, so it must be available to the Blackberry user in order to confirm emergency broadcasts. It must be the default browser for following links in email. And the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) must be configured to allow Mobile Data Services (MDS) with SSL/TLS options, must itself have access to the emergency site over SSL, and have policies in place to permit the users to use it.