The Student Government Association wants effective emergency communications between students and the administration.

A resolution to support such communications passed unanimously at SGA’s meeting Tuesday night.

The resolution supports the use of Western’s Crisis Management System in natural and man-made situations which can threaten students, according to the legislation.

Senator Amanda Beers, author of the resolution, said she wrote the resolution after shots were fired near Pearce-Ford Tower early Saturday morning.

“The main goal of this resolution is to encourage students to sign up for the text-messaging system and to encourage the administration to send out text messages for emergencies,” Beers said.

Students weren’t informed by administrators about the PFT incident until later in the day, SGA President Johnathon Boles said.

“Students should be the first to know,” Boles said.

The administration did send an e-mail to students, but the text message system currently in place wasn’t used, the Herald previously reported.

The system uses text messages to warn students about emergency situations on campus, the Herald previously reported.

Bob Skipper, director of media relations, previously told the Herald that students should have been told about the incident earlier.

He said that the shooter had left campus by the time the police arrived, so officials didn’t think an alert was necessary because the situation was under control, the Herald previously reported.

The legislation states that “the system has the ability to save students from potentially threatening situations,” and that the SGA “feels it necessary to inform students about the importance of registering for the Crisis Management System and inform the administration about the need to use the system.”

Beers presented the resolution for the first time Tuesday, but senators voted to move it from first to second reading so that they could vote on it immediately.

Reach Laurel Wilson at news@chherald.com.