UAlert notifications are sent when there is an immediate threat or concern for the health or safety of the campus community. In addition, the university may send precautionary UAlert notifications for emergency situations occurring in or affecting nearby areas. 

UAlert may be activated in cases of:

• Violent activity, including:
  • Active shooter.
  • Immediate threat or concern to the health or safety of the University of Arizona community, including off-campus events.
• Hazards, including:
  • Major fires.
  • Hazardous material leaks or spills (with a threat to health and safety).
  • Health issues such as infectious diseases (following consultation with the Critical Incident Response Team).
• Major disruptions to university activity, including:
  • Severe weather.
  • Power outages.
• Other events presenting an immediate threat or concern for health or safety.

When possible, UAlerts include a brief description of the emergency, the location of the emergency, any action to take (e.g., stay away from a dangerous area, shelter in place, follow evacuation plan), a suspect description if a crime has been committed (language is from witness description), and a link to a map or the Campus Incident page.

In an emergency, UAlert information will be shared in the following ways:

• UAlert email and text message notifications.
• SafeCats app push notifications.
• Office of Public Safety X (Twitter) @UofA_Safety.
• Message Boards: Some classrooms on campus have message boards that show UAlert notifications.
• Campus Incidents page: UAlert notifications are posted to the Campus Incidents webpage.

Yes. UAlert is a cross-carrier service that sends to U.S. cellphone numbers.

No. At this time only 10-digit U.S. cellphone numbers can be registered for UAlert messages. If you do not have a U.S. cellphone number, you are encouraged to download the SafeCats app and enable push notifications to receive UAlerts. You will also receive UAlert emails to your university email address listed in UAccess.

No. UAlert uses the industry standard SMS text messaging protocol to send messages to your phone. Your cellphone will need to have text messaging services enabled in order for you to receive the messages.

To receive UAlert notifications in the SafeCats app, you will need to download the app.

Maybe. If your current wireless service plan includes charges for incoming text messages, that rate will apply to UAlert text messages. Check with your carrier. You can choose to unsubscribe from text messages in one of two ways:

1. Reply to a UAlert text with STOP.
2. Log in to your UAlert profile and remove your cellphone number.

UAlert notifications are currently available for three locations: Tucson, Greater Phoenix (including Chandler and Gilbert) and Sierra Vista. Oro Valley location will be added starting Aug. 18.

The university has effective communication systems in place and makes every effort to communicate in the event of an emergency. The university contracts with a third party, Motorola Solutions, to provide emergency communications and cannot guarantee the service will always perform as expected. In rare circumstances, there may be service interruptions due to system errors or maintenance. In critical and life-threatening incidents, the university has a partnership with Pima County that provides alternate tools for communicating during emergencies.

When the new UAlert system launches on Aug. 18, emails will come from ualert@safecats.arizona.edu, and text messages may come from any of the following numbers: 226787, 67283, 77295, or 78015. 

Test messages sent Aug. 11–13 will also come from these senders.

No. You can add your cellphone number in your UAlert profile to receive text notifications. You can also download the SafeCats app and enable push notifications.

Visit https://uaccess.arizona.edu/, log in, and click on the Personal Information tile.

You can log in to your UAlert profile and add the non @arizona.edu email address to your UAlert account.

No. You will receive both email and text notifications. Each phone number or email address you add to your profile will receive all Tucson messages plus the messages for each location you have opted into.

Smart911 is a free service that allows non-university users to receive UAlert emergency notifications by text or email. Users who already have a Smart911 profile should log in through the University of Arizona’s Smart911 link and opt-in to UAlert notifications. 

Yes. There are a few options:

1. Log in to your UAlert profile to add or remove email addresses and cellphone numbers. There is not an option to remove your university email address.
2. If you are a current student, employee or designated campus colleague, update your cellphone number in UAccess Employee or UAccess Student and the new number will be automatically registered to receive UAlert text notifications, replacing the previous number.
3. If you want to stop receiving UAlert text message notifications, you can unsubscribe by replying to a UAlert text message with STOP or by logging in to the UAlert profile and removing your cellphone number.

You can choose to unsubscribe from text messages in one of two ways:

1. Reply to a UAlert text with STOP.
2. Log in to the UAlert profile and remove your cellphone number.

Generally, text messages are received more quickly than email messages.

If you are a university student, employee or designated campus colleague, your university email address in UAccess is automatically subscribed to receive Tucson UAlert messages. You cannot opt out of receiving these emails. If you added personal email addresses to your UAlert profile, you can remove those addresses from your profile as well.

For non-university subscribers, log in using the University of Arizona's Smart911 link and remove the email accounts you would like to unsubscribe. You may unsubscribe from email alerts only, text alerts only, or the entire service.

For the new UAlert system launch, your university email and U.S. phone number listed in UAccess were automatically registered to receive Tucson UAlert notifications starting Aug. 18. If you do not have a cellphone number in UAccess, you can add it in UAccess or you can update your UAlert profile to receive text messages. If your information is correct in UAlert, please contact the 24/7 Support Center. 

The new UAlert system launches Aug. 18, 2025. Non-university users who enrolled in UAlert before Aug. 8 must create a profile using the University of Arizona's Smart911 link.

The UAlert system uses the email address listed in UAccess. First, check your personal information in UAccess.

Also, check your email settings to make sure you don’t have an existing rule in your email sending UAlerts to a folder or deleting them upon receipt. Some people prefer to forward messages out of their university email account and delete them as part of the forwarding. If you are still not receiving messages, please contact the 24/7 Support Center. 

The university contracts with a third party vendor to provide emergency UAlert notifications. Additionally, the university's contract with the vendor states that the vendor will not sell or share the contact information of our subscribers to third parties.

No. UAlert enforces a ZERO SPAM policy that clearly prohibits unsolicited messages, and the university’s vendor does not sell or share the contact information of our subscribers to third parties. You should only receive safety-related text messages and/or emails from the University of Arizona UAlert system.