The installation of the three call boxes--located north of the Oviatt Library, north of the Matador Bookstore and near the Student Health Center on the east side of campus--was made possible by a $17,507 grant from the Grace Petri Endowment Fund.

"This new emergency service allows us to address the needs of our deaf and hard-of-hearing student population in a manner that did not previously exist," said CSUN Police Chief Anne Glavin. "The ability to summon emergency help is a core public safety service, and we are very pleased to begin to build this network on campus. This has been a long process to bring to fruition. This type of technology is not commonly used on college campuses--it is traditionally found on freeways. We know we are charting new ground with this application."

Glavin said CSUN's Department of Public Safety has been working with the university's deaf community for almost two years to improve access to emergency services for the campus's deaf and hard-of-hearing population.

The three call boxes replace blue light emergency phones that have traditionally served as emergency communication with campus police. The new emergency call boxes are distinguished by their yellow color and are equipped with a small keyboard that enables the caller to type messages directly to university police dispatch. The police dispatcher can send a message to the caller by either typing or using a computer mouse to click on pre-selected emergency responses. The call boxes also have traditional emergency phones for non-disabled users.

"By having these call boxes on campus, CSUN has demonstrated once again its sincere commitment to making students who are deaf and hard of hearing an integral part of the university community," said Gary Sanderson, interim director of the campus' National Center on Deafness. "The center applauds all the hard work that went into this project. We know that anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing will feel a bit safer on campus by having one more way to communicate with the Department of Public Safety during an emergency."

CSUN's population of approximately 250 deaf and hard-of-hearing students is one of the largest at any mainstream university in the United States. The university was among the first to offer services to mainstream these students, beginning more than 40 years ago.