The UW collects emergency contact information to support student safety and facilitate timely communication during serious or unexpected situations. All active students are required to designate two emergency contacts, so the University may reach appropriate individuals if urgent circumstances arise, such as a significant illness, injury, or other critical event.
While the purpose of emergency contact information is clear, the process for keeping it current and making it available when needed has not always been simple. This article highlights the collaborative work across UW that helped improve that process for both students and authorized staff.
The Challenge
Until recently, maintaining and accessing emergency contact information was not always as straightforward as it needed to be. The Office of the Vice President for Student Life, the primary stakeholder for Student Emergency Contacts, found that family contact data in the Student Database was often outdated, missing, or incomplete.
Historically, students were prompted to provide this information during pre-registration, which was not always the ideal time for thoughtful review. Although updates could later be made in Student Personal Services (SPS), it was not easy for students to find where to do that. It was also not explicit that the emergency contact could be any person the student chose.
In addition, the previous system had several limitations: it allowed only one contact, did not include email addresses, did not support international phone numbers, and did not let students indicate their relationship to the contact. Because the central system could not capture all the information units needed, some offices maintained additional contact details in separate systems. In urgent situations, that made it harder for staff to quickly find the most current information.
A Collaborative Solution
Addressing this issue called for coordinated work across multiple teams to improve the student experience, strengthen data flows, support secure access, and reinforce a clearer campuswide process for maintaining emergency contact information.
- The Office of Student Life and the Office of the University Registrar: Served as co-project sponsors. The Academic Data Domain Lead led three stakeholder summits to help define requirements, and the Office of the University Registrar’s Academic Data Management team reviewed the solution and supported communication about the change.
- Student & Educational Technology Services (UWIT): Worked with stakeholders to translate requirements into validated design proposals for a more visible student-facing experience and a report that would meet staff needs in emergencies. Built an app students can access from their MyUW profile page to verify and update emergency contacts and updated impacted UWIT applications to use the new data source.
- Data Integrations (UWIT): Integrated emergency contact data from the new student-facing application into the Enterprise Data Warehouse, replacing the SDB dataset, which held more limited information. The team also worked with the University Registrar to define and implement appropriate security roles.
- Reporting & Analytics (UWIT): Built the Student Emergency Contact report in the BI Portal, providing approved stakeholders with a secure way to retrieve the information they need.
Exploring the Solutions
Student Emergency Contact App
Students can review their emergency contact information at any time through their profile page in MyUW. To launch the app and edit their information, they just need to click Edit emergency contacts from this page.
The Student Emergency Contacts app displays the student’s current emergency contacts and allows them to edit or remove them.
When the student clicks Edit, a popup prompts them to enter the required information in the appropriate format.
Student Emergency Contact Report – BI Portal
Approved staff are able to retrieve student emergency contact information using the Student Emergency Contact Report in the BI Portal.
Accessing This Report
Emergency contact information is used only when necessary to respond to emergency situations involving a student. Access to this information is restricted to authorized University personnel and handled in accordance with University privacy standards.
If you need access, follow the special permission process outlined on the Interpretation tab for the report.
Recent Examples of Impact
- The Emergency Contact Report has already proven essential in several student emergencies.
- Students have benefited from a more visible and accessible way to review and update their emergency contact information each quarter, including the ability to provide more complete details.
- The process for updating and approving access to the report prompted the teams involved to clarify standard operating procedures, decision-making, and documentation.
