Students can now sign up to receive emergency-alert text messages from the university, according to a message from Dean of Students Mark Bandas.

"The recent tragedy at Virginia Tech has highlighted the importance of rapid and accurate communications during emergency situations, and particularly the value of cell phone text messaging to relay important information," Bandas said in an e-mail to students.

MobileVU, Vanderbilt's text messaging service, has added an emergency alert list for students, faculty and staff that will be used to deliver security information directly to cell phones in the event of a campus emergency.

Bandas encouraged community members to enroll in MobileVU and keep their information current.

Enroll in two ways:

Online: Visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/mobilevu and complete the form, including your cell phone number and your mobile carrier. Select the MobileVU Emergency List.

Phone: Send a text (SMS) message with the text VANDY to 27538.

In both cases, a confirmation message will be sent to your cell phone.