UT is partnering with UTPD to help make campus safer.

The UT ALERT program sends text messages to the cell phones of students, faculty and staff if a serious incident has occurred. It is free except for standard text messaging rates.

The UT ALERT program began this past summer to notify its subscribers about campus emergencies, said Lt. Emily Simerly of UTPD.

"The goal is to notify students, staff, and faculty of critical incidents and university closings. This notification process will be one of the main methods in keeping students, staff, and faculty away from potentially dangerous incidents," Simerly said.

Not all incidents will be reported over the UT ALERT system.

Any critical incident that could potentially impact the university community in an immediate and severe way could potentially be broadcast on a UT Alert.  UTPD Lt.  Emily Simerly "Any critical incident that could potentially impact the university community in an immediate and severe way could potentially be broadcast on a UT Alert," Simerly said.

Text messages would be sent out for fires that impact a major section of campus, serious weather conditions that would close campus and incidents such as a shooter on campus.

In response to students' questions of why they have not been getting messages about the recent muggings on campus, Simerly said, "As tragic as the recent incidents have been, they did not constitute the issuance of a UT ALERT."

However, e-mails have been sent out to notify the UT community of these incidents. These emails have caused students to assume more crime is occurring on campus. UTPD said the crime rate has not gone up significantly, but e-mails are being sent out more frequently than they have been in the past.

So far, 8,550 UT students, faculty and staff have registered for UT ALERT, according to Simerly. To register for UT ALERT, you can go to the UT ALERT Web site.