The Alerting AuthorityConfidence Through Competence

"Competence isn't a certificate on the wall. It's knowing exactly what to do when the emergency happens." - Eddie Bertola

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  ***courses Coming soon *** Alerting Authority University

The mission of The Alerting Authority University is to prepare alert and warning professionals before pressure hits by strengthening the knowledge, skills, judgment, and confidence required to communicate effectively during critical moments. Through structured, practitioner-focused coursework grounded in current research, proven theory, and real-world experience, the University equips professionals to lead and manage every layer of mass notification, from federal alerting tools to opt-in systems and other communication channels. Our focus is not simply on what professionals should know, but on how they apply that knowledge when timing, clarity, targeting, coordination, and public safety matter most.

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Every organization or jurisdiction is one bad alert away from a lesson it can't take back. The university exists so that lesson is learned in a classroom, not in an after-action report.
Alerting Authority University in practice
The curriculum

Three pillars every alerting program is built on.

Authority & policy

Who is authorized to send, under what law, and where the accountability sits. Build the maturity model and governance that hold up long after the incident closes.

Research

The current science of effective alert and warning creation and dissemination, message design included. Evidence on what makes people believe, understand, and act on a warning, not swipe it away.

The Alert and Warning Continuum

Before the event, pre-stage templates and test your tools and leave nothing to chance. During the event, push clear, consistent messages across the right channels at the right time. After the event, send clear post alert messaging, complete the after-action review, and address problem areas, so the next activation is faster and more effective.

Example Course

Two days built around the reality of running a warning program. Day one sets the policy and systems foundation; day two puts you in the seat, writing and defending real messages. Seats are held for alert originators and emergency management leaders.

HostYour Organization
LocationIn-Person or Virtual
Year2026
LengthTwo-day intensive
Day 1, Foundation

Policy, authority & the ecosystem.

  1. Alerting policy maturity model. Assess where your program actually stands, and the honest gaps between plan and practice.
  2. The IPAWS ecosystem, in plain language. How CAP, WEA, and EAS interlock, and where sends quietly fail.
  3. Legal authority and the send decision. Who is authorized, under what law, and how to defend the call.
  4. Breakout sessions. Small-group work critiquing real WEA messages against the moment they were sent in.
Day 2, Application

The seat, the message, the exercise.

  1. Message design lab. Write plain-language, multilingual warnings inside the 360-character WEA discipline.
  2. Testing & exercise modules. Build the drills and after-action habits that keep a program sharp.
  3. Governance modules. MOUs, access control, and accountability that survive scrutiny.
  4. Live tabletop. Take an unfolding incident from first alert to all-clear, under pressure, as a team.
Enroll

Confidence is trained. Start now.

Tell us about your program and we'll help you build the competence your community is counting on.

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