MyLU Insider

Communications

Category: Communications

LU Alert Test – TODAY

The Fall Term test of the LU Alert system is scheduled for today, Thursday, October 5 between 11:00 am and noon.   At that time you will receive telephone calls, email messages and, if you have provided a cell phone number, text messages confirming the test.

This system is one of several Lawrence will use to communicate in the event of an emergency.  It provides Lawrence with an enhanced ability to communicate quickly to large numbers of students, faculty, staff and emergency contacts using multiple communication channels — email, office phones, cell phones and text messaging.

  • Of the delivery options, email and text-messaging have been the quickest and most reliable methods.
  • The delivery of messages via cell phones is faster, but may also be limited by the capacity of some network providers. If you want to be notified of a campus emergency via cell phone, please verify that your cell number is listed on Voyager.

As members of the Lawrence community, we all have a responsibility to ensure effective communication in an emergency. Thank you for your support.

The Crisis Management Team

LU Alert Test – TODAY

The Fall Term test of the LU Alert system is scheduled for today, Thursday, Oct. 5 between 11 a.m. and noon. At that time, you will receive telephone calls, email messages and, if you have provided a cellphone number, text messages confirming the test. Please let your emergency contact know that they may receive a phone message if you shared one of your phone numbers (i.e. home).

This system is one of several Lawrence will use to communicate in the event of an emergency. It provides Lawrence with an enhanced ability to communicate quickly to large numbers of students, faculty, staff and emergency contacts using multiple communication channels: email, office phones, cellphones and text messages.

  • Of the delivery options, email and text messaging have been the quickest and most reliable methods.
  • The system’s ability to deliver messages to office phones is limited by the capabilities of our telephone system. While we have improved our ability to receive office phone calls, faculty and staff should not expect to receive an emergency message immediately via office phone.
  • The delivery of messages via cellphones is faster, but may also be limited by the capacity of some network providers. If you want to be notified of a campus emergency via cellphone, please verify that your cell number is listed on Voyager.
  • If you would like to be contacted via cellphone or text message, you may provide your cellphone number to Human Resources.

As members of the Lawrence community, we all have a responsibility to ensure effective communication in an emergency. Thank you for your support.

The Crisis Management Team

Active Shooter Presentation

Please plan to attend a presentation about reacting to an active shooter on campus, from 3 – 4:30 on Tuesday, Oct. 17 in the Warch Campus Center cinema. This is extremely valuable and relevant information – particularly for faculty and staff. Presenting are Captain Chris Tarmann of the UW-Oshkosh Police and Joe Peterson, a member of the UW-O faculty.

Summer Renewal

Summer was an exciting time of renewal at Lawrence. Students, faculty and staff returned to campus a few short weeks ago to a number of changes and improvements to our campus and community – the result of a busy summer on the part of our facilities, HR and other departments. These were deliberate efforts, consistent with our strategic plan, to invest in physical and human capital over the short term to avoid major costs in the long term. Many of these changes were accomplished from the generosity of donors as well as planned investments from our annual operating budget.

Walking through campus, one can’t help but notice many improvements to our physical appearance. When the underground chiller system was replaced last spring, we took the opportunity to redesign the plaza between the library and the art center. Additional seating and upgraded landscaping was funded by one of our many generous donors.

In addition, several changes were made to add parking capacity in anticipation of the city’s new parking plan. Fifty-six new spaces were constructed for faculty and staff daytime parking next to the chapel. In addition, parking behind Plantz Hall was reconfigured to provide student parking immediately behind Plantz and faculty/staff daytime parking in the lots at Meade and Washington.

To facilitate additional parking in the future, while preserving the historic character of the City Park neighborhood, the house formerly located at 122 N. Union was moved to 229 N. Union where it now sits across the street from the park. Ultimately, the house will become the residence of our Provost.

Other notable physical changes to campus include the resurfacing of the Chapman Hall parking lot and the replacement of broken sidewalks in front of the building to provide a more welcoming experience for first-time visitors to campus. In addition, the renovations made to Colman Hall last year were finalized with the addition of new landscaping in the courtyard.

Several improvements have been made to the small houses on Boldt Way. And, another section of stained glass was removed, rebuilt and reinstalled in the chapel.

Other improvements include the second phase of the bathroom remodels in Ormsby Hall, made possible by an anonymous donor. The third and final phase will be completed in future years.

One of the biggest changes to campus is not to our facilities but to our community itself. This academic year, we will welcome some 85 new colleagues to our faculty and staff. Among these are new faculty – tenure-line, adjuncts, part-time teachers, fellows and Academy faculty. Others include several staff positions, assistant coaches, and residence hall directors.

Much has been accomplished during the summer months that will have a lasting impact to our campus and to our community.

 

 

The new virtual tour is live!

After months of hard work, we are delighted to officially announce the launch of the new 360-degree virtual tour! The virtual walking tour is an immersive interactive user experience, and we look forward to using it to engage with prospective students, parents, alumni and the community. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Each visitor can curate their own tour experience with easy-to-use navigational tools and optional audio descriptions—voiced by a Lawrence student—of each building and points of interest on campus. They can also use the buttons integrated throughout the tour to contact admissions, schedule visits or apply online.

We built the tour to allow easy updates of the content and improve the quality of the tour. (Now that students have returned, we will be swapping out the current images with a livelier campus. We will also let everyone know when Björklunden and London Centre are added!)

I encourage all faculty and staff to take a virtual tour of the campus and provide me with your questions, comments and feedback. Our next step is to announce the tour to the alumni and Board of Trustees before announcing the tour to the general public, so we would love to hear your feedback and make any necessary adjustments first.

A special thanks to the team for their hard work all summer on this project:

Jay Dansand, Larry Darling, Christopher Gore-Gammon, David Jaglowski, Garrett Katerzynske, David Jaglowski, James Sweetack, Matt Schmeltzer and Ben Willard.

We hope you enjoy the tour.

Lauren Erlandson, Director of Digital Communications

New crosswalk cameras on College Avenue designed to improve pedestrian safety

In an effort to improve personal safety, Lawrence University, in collaboration with the city of Appleton, has acquired and is installing high-definition cameras on the two crosswalks on College Ave. in the middle of campus.

The high-definition cameras will be mounted in the median behind the pedestrian crossing signs and will be able to capture a higher level of detail at the crossings to assist the Appleton Police Department in an investigation should an incident arise.

Captured video information will be stored for 72 hours – the same as all other traffic cameras within the city – and is only reviewed if needed for evidence in an accident or harassment incident.

Lawrence is covering the purchase cost of the cameras while the city will oversee the cameras installation. The city also will manage maintenance of the cameras and all data captured by them.

“The mid-College Ave. crosswalks have seen a number of pedestrian-vehicle incidents over the years,” said Jon Meyer, Lawrence’s director of campus safety and director of campus services. “The safety and well-being of members of the Lawrence community is our highest priority and these new cameras will help us identify vehicles involved in crosswalk accidents as well as verbal harassment.”

In Oct. 2013, Lawrence student Shannon Grant sustained serious injuries in a hit-and-run incident while crossing the westbound lane of College Ave. in the crosswalk in front of the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The case has never been solved. However, this new technology should significantly aid in any future investigations.

Students, faculty and staff should continue to be careful when crossing College Avenue.

Congratulations to Anna Simeth

Congratulations are in order for Anna Simeth! Anna was honored with the Appleton Education Association’s “Friend of Education Award” for her ongoing work on a Leadership Fox Cities community project: “Family Dinner Night.” She shared the stage with other community leaders recognized for their commitment to education, including Dr. John Mielke who was honored for his 26 years of service on the Appleton School Board. Please join us in thanking Anna and her LFC colleagues for their remarkable contributions towards making the Fox Cities a healthier community.

New External Email Communications System Coming

After a thorough review of alternative external email providers, the offices of communications and technology services have identified a new provider. Effective August 1, we will no longer send non-campus email through Informz. Instead, we will begin using MailChimp for external communications (Alumni, Development, etc.)  Please note, we will continue to use Outlook as our internal campus email provider.

MailChimp was selected for several reasons – most notably due to their user-friendly templates, ability to integrate with Banner as well as cost savings vs Informz.

All department email administrators and their department heads should plan to attend one of two or three alternative training sessions, led by Director of Digital Communications, Lauren Erlandson. Administrators will learn the nuts and bolts of the new system. Department heads will also benefit, since Lauren will discuss best practices, analytics reports, compliance with CAN-SPAM laws, LU’s email policies, etc.

Lauren will share training dates with current Informz administrators and department heads. However, individuals who would like to learn more about email in general and MailChimp in particular, should contact Lauren (x6746) to make sure they are aware of training dates.

Email has become one of our most important communication channels and will continue to play an important role in reaching our various audiences. Using it properly can make a big difference in whether your email is read or deleted.

Craig Gagnon
Associate Vice President of Communications