A Tennessee college's Web-based communication with students, following a tornado that devastated its campus Tuesday, attracted the attention of UF officials searching for new ways to keep students informed during emergencies.
Union University, located in Jackson, Tenn., used Facebook and a blog to post announcements for students, staff and parents after a tornado caused about $40 million worth of damage to dormitories and buildings, its blog stated.
Tim Ellsworth, a Union spokesman, said the university's main Web site was out of power for about 15 hours after the tornado hit around 7 p.m. on Feb. 5. The blog, which was not a preconceived idea, was posted around midnight, Ellsworth said.
The decision proved to be a great way to keep Union's 3,300-person study body informed, he said.
"A blog is just conducive for making these short announcements on one page where you don't have to go navigating around to find them," Ellsworth said.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said after seeing how effective it was, maintaining a UF Facebook page is worth considering given the site's traditionally college-based audience.
"In the end, the most important thing is that you get the message to the people who need it most," Orlando said.
He said during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, UF maintained a blog linked to its home page that kept a running list of announcements. If the power was to go out, he said UF has a backup power source, but if the servers were ever destroyed, the University of Wisconsin would be able to run UF's home page from its own server.
"We have right now what we think is a good system based on our experience," Orlando said. "But we're always open to new ideas."
Ryan Pope, a mechanical engineering junior, said he isn't "blog-savvy," but he thought a UF Facebook page would be a great resource for students during emergencies.
"I checked it like eight times in the past 30 minutes," Pope said.
