Navarro College Wins 2025 Regroup Readiness Award in the Education Category

Navarro College: Protecting a Diverse Campus Community with Watchdog Alert Powered by Regroup

Navarro College is a cornerstone institution in Texas serving the counties of Navarro, Ellis, Freestone, Limestone, and Leon. With a diverse population of students, faculty, staff, and specialized programs—including Police Academy, Fire, EMS, and Adult Education—the college’s mission centers on opportunity, preparedness, and safety.

Navarro College implemented Regroup’s mass notification system in the fall of 2019, following a need for stronger, more reliable messaging capabilities. Today, Regroup is branded on campus as Watchdog Alert and reaches between 6,000 and 8,000 recipients across four campuses.

Navarro’s Challenge Meets Regroup’s Solution

As a multi-campus institution, Navarro College faces a broad range of risks—from severe Texas weather to security incidents and infrastructure disruptions—often affecting students and staff both on and off campus. Leadership needed a communication system that could deliver clear, timely, and accessible information during high-stress situations without overwhelming recipients or sacrificing accuracy. Just as important, the college required a solution that could support legally mandated emergency drills across multiple campuses and adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

To meet these needs, Navarro College implemented Regroup’s multi-channel mass notification platform, using SMS, voice, email, and API-based messaging to reach its entire community quickly and reliably. Guided by a Campus Safety Subcommittee, the system is carefully managed to balance automation with discretion—determining when alerts from sources like NOAA or the National Weather Service are appropriate and when targeted, campus-issued communications are more effective.

The subcommittee invested heavily in preparedness by:

• Building 61 pre-configured message templates tailored by campus and scenario, including lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders, evacuations, and all-clear notifications
• Establishing a two-person on-call deployment protocol to ensure rapid activation, even during overnight or high-pressure emergencies
• Setting up daily synchronization with their Ellucian Colleague SIS to keep contact information current and automatically enroll new students for alerts
• Promoting Watchdog Alert through digital monitors, posters, and QR codes to maximize reach throughout the community

As one leader noted, “We want our students to receive alerts even if they’re not on campus—but only when the information is truly actionable.” That philosophy, combined with Regroup’s flexibility, has significantly reduced friction during emergencies and made Watchdog Alert faster, more intuitive, and more dependable for those tasked with protecting the Navarro College community.

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Crisis Response: Protecting Lives in Critical Events

Regroup’s impact was most evident during a series of high-stakes incidents in 2023 and 2024.

Within a span of 4 months, Navarro College faced an active shooter threat, two tornadoes on the same day, and a severe thunderstorm. During these events, Watchdog Alert delivered 473,741 messages across SMS, voice, and email channels, providing real-time instructions and all-clear notifications to students and staff.

The active shooter threat was particularly alarming. An off-campus gunfight spilled onto campus, prompting an immediate lockdown. Coordinating closely with local law enforcement, Navarro College staff used pre-built templates to rapidly deploy lockdown, secure, and all-clear messages within minutes. The lockdown lasted approximately three hours, and everyone on campus was safely secured.

“We had templates ready, and that made all the difference,” one administrator shared. “When seconds matter, you don’t want to be writing messages from scratch.”

Weather-related emergencies continued throughout 2024 and into 2025. Confirmed tornado activity near Corsicana triggered immediate shelter-in-place alerts, while winter storms, internet outages, delayed starts, and security incidents were handled with precise, campus-specific messaging. Across all events, Watchdog Alert ensured continuity of learning, safe commuting, and clear resolution to every event.

Preparedness and Engagement: Building a Resilient Campus Culture

Texas law requires regular emergency drills, and Regroup has transformed how Navarro conducts and communicates these exercises. Using Watchdog Alert, Navarro streamlined biannual evacuation and lockdown drills across all campuses, as well as system-wide test alerts to verify accuracy and reach.

Drills are followed by surveys, providing two years of consistent feedback from students and staff. This approach has driven continuous improvement and boosted confidence in the system. Outreach during drills also increased Watchdog Alert enrollment by approximately 30%, reinforcing preparedness through participation.

In 2025, Navarro expanded drill communications by integrating social media posts on X, extending awareness beyond traditional channels.

Inclusivity, Efficiency, and Leadership

Regroup’s multi-channel delivery and automatic message translation into recipients’ preferred languages ensures accessibility for all members of the Navarro community, including non-traditional learners and remote students. Messages are delivered in formats that accommodate different needs, schedules, and locations.

Despite sending over 500,000 messages across 2024 and 2025, Navarro demonstrated efficiency and scalability, with minimal unnecessary traffic and precise targeting.

Navarro College is also emerging as a leader in higher education preparedness. By sharing best practices and exploring workshops for other Texas colleges, the institution is helping elevate emergency readiness beyond its own campuses.

Lasting Impact

Navarro College’s experience with Regroup is a story of resilience, preparation, and leadership. Watchdog Alert has empowered the college to respond decisively during crises, streamline daily operations, and foster a culture of safety and trust.

With fast response times during major emergencies, measurable engagement growth, and a system designed for speed and inclusivity, Regroup has become more than a notification platform—it is a vital part of how Navarro College protects lives and leads by example.

What began as a technology upgrade has become a cornerstone of campus safety, crisis response, and community trust—earning Navarro College recognition as a winner of the 2025 Regroup Readiness Award.

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