HONOLULU -- As the country focuses again on security at college campuses, officials at Hawaii's largest university said they are about halfway through implementing its emergency safety alert plan.

On the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa officials are currently expanding their e-mail notification abilities to include instant cell phone text messaging for faculty and staff. About 2,000 out of 5,000 have voluntarily enrolled so far, they said.

"Late this month, we're going to ask students to voluntarily sign up to receive emergency text messaging by cell phone," UH Manoa spokesman Gregg Takayama said. "So, if there was to be an incident like this on campus, students would receive in addition to their computer e-mail, a text message by cell phone."

Campus security officers are also practicing emergency response drills with the Honolulu Police Department, UH officials said.

In April, officials said they plan to hold a full-scale emergency drill to test the entire system.

A 27-year-old former Northern Illinois University student killed five students and shot at least 15 others on Thursday. The incident comes less than a year after the Virginia Tech shooting that left 32 people dead.