Within minutes of a gunman opening fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday, an all-campus alert went out to the school community.

At Kansas and Missouri colleges and universities, similar systems exist.

At the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where 12,000 students attend classes, school officials just implemented a text alert system in December.

Students can sign up to have emergency messages sent to them.

The University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., urged members of the campus community to update their contact information for the school's emergency mass notification system on its Web site on Friday.

Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan., has a text message alert system.

Campus security officers were fitted for bulletproof vests this week, and some certified officers will start carrying pepper spray and collapsible batons.

In addition to text messages, the University of Kansas -- with campuses in Lawrence, Kan.; Overland Park, Kan.; and Kansas City, Kan. -- uses a multi-tiered emergency notification strategy that includes e-mail alerts, voice mail, Web page alerts, and a public address system and fire alarms.