After a then-unidentified man committed an armed robbery on Monroe Avenue at a Subway restaurant adjacent to campus, Oregon State University issued a timely warning email to the OSU community. The next day, when Steven Lance Thompson, a suspect in the case, had been apprehended, another email was sent out.

Used primarily by the OSU Department of Public Safety, timely warnings are a means of emergency communication that inform members of the campus community to be on alert or when areas are unsafe, according to Vice President for University Relations and Marketing Steve Clark.

“Safety is our number-one priority at Oregon State. If students, faculty and staff do not feel safe, they cannot learn well or do their jobs well as teachers, researchers or staff members,” Clark said in an email.

According to Clark, timely warnings are sent out in an email format to students and faculty members only if a threat is still present. As soon as a report of violence or an ongoing risk to the safety of staff and students is issued to the university, a timely warning is sent out.

“We routinely share important safety notices and information on the OSU website homepage, through social media, media interviews and news releases—and sometimes by making automated phone calls to all notification lists,” Clark said via email.

These notices can also contain different information such as health matters, power outages or traffic concerns, but are all focused around situations which might negatively affect OSU, according to Clark.

For more on this week’s robbery, click here.