DeKALB | When it comes to notifying students of an emergency, some students feel e-mail is not the best way to go.

In light of the recent events at Virginia Tech, several students complained about not receiving e-mail notification from NIU administration until some time after the shooting had already occurred.

Sophomore communication major Armando Flores said she believes contacting students by their Z-ID e-mail would not be an efficient method because so few students check those e-mail accounts.

“I haven’t checked my school e-mail in a while because I have no need for it,” Flores said. “Also, if you’re in class, how are you going to know if something’s happening?”

Information Technology Services is developing alternative methods that could be used to notify students of an urgent situation, said Walter Czerniak, associate vice president of ITS.

“We need to have multiple ways of notifying the students,” Czerniak said. “An idea that has come up is having a text messaging system that would send texts to students’ cell phones.”

Flores said she feels receiving notifications via text message would be a better method of catching a student’s attention.

“It would be a great thing to have because almost everybody has a cell phone on them,” Flores said. “And students can tell people around them on campus what’s going on.”

The only problem with this proposed idea, Czerniak said, is that some students may be charged a fee based on their phone carrier for receiving text messages. Another possibility proposed by ITS is to use a public announcement system in academic buildings in the same fashion as those used in the residence halls.