The school will partner with TCN Broadcasting, a Utah-based automated messaging company, in a deal that will allow the college to contact its students immediately by cell phone, home phone or other registered emergency contact number.

"With the numbers of students with cell phones, we realized that this was a very real possibility," said David Ross, Dixie registrar.

In addition, the school will install $50,000 worth of surveillance cameras throughout the St. George campus and the Dixie State College Hurricane Center.

The campus police will double its patrols through commencement on May 5, and train faculty and staff on effective emergency responses, campus police director Don Reid said.

Roos said these additions are augmenting "one of the safest campuses in the nation; however, we cannot take for granted that any campus is safe."

“The events of this past week really underscored the importance of these initiatives,” Roos said. “We're being responsive to what happened and we felt that these actions will better serve our students and ensure their safety.”

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* SHEENA MCFARLAND can be contacted at smcfarland@sltrib.com or 801-257-8619.