Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania said yesterday it will implement a text-messaging system to notify 8,500 students, as well as employees and parents, of emergencies via their phones, computers or other electronic devices.

The school, which decided to make such a move because of the Virginia Tech massacre, said it will use e2Campus, a Web-based notification system. It is expected to begin operating Friday.

Across the nation, schools have been reviewing security and safety contingencies following the shootings in April that left 33 students, faculty and the gunman dead on the Blacksburg, Va., campus.

Carlow University announced a similar decision last month.

At Slippery Rock, students, faculty, staff and parents of current students who want the alerts may sign up for them through the university's home page www.sru.edu/alerts.

"Obviously, given the recent events at Virginia Tech, our hope is that all our students, faculty and staff opt-in. We tried to make it as easy as possible for people to register for the system and to select the type of alerts they want to receive"

University spokesman Karl Schwab did not have an estimate yesterday of how much the new system will cost.

Mr. Schwab said the technology will enable administrators to choose the pool of recipients based on the type of emergency and its scope.

"If we only want to send it to faculty, or just to students, or only to those living in residence halls, we will be able to [select] a subset of those who have signed up," he said.

Slippery Rock already sends e-mails and posts fliers during emergencies, but the new system will enable messages to reach students anywhere on campus, even if they are not near a computer.

Delivery will occur "as soon as an administrator can type it into the system and push a button." Mr. Schwab said.

First Published: July 18, 2007, 3:30 a.m.