How Texas A&M Operates a Campuswide Reporting Ecosystem

2026 marks Texas A&M University’s 150th anniversary, a testament to its dedication to being a force for good locally, nationally, and globally. Such longevity is the result of an institution willing to consistently evolve to better serve its entire community. 

As Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Texas A&M, Dr. Justin Jeffery plays a key role in transforming the university’s support services to match changing student needs and preferences. In recent years, his team has turned their attention to reporting: how to make it more accessible, intuitive, and integrated across campus.

“Students are looking for tailored, individualized responses and engagement. But knowing where to go and how to navigate any university, regardless of size, is complex for students doing it for the first time.”

About Texas A&M University

Texas A&M is one of the largest public universities in the nation, and the flagship of The Texas A&M University System. From its beginnings as the state’s first public institution of higher education, Texas A&M is now home to over 81,000 students and more than 4,000 faculty members across its College Station and satellite campuses. 

Making the leap from simple forms to a trusted institutional mechanism

Like many institutions, Texas A&M doubled down on its reporting infrastructure following the tragic 2007 Virginia Tech shootings. Back then, they relied on a traditional web form to start collecting feedback about suspicious activity or threats. 

“A much smaller team would review those reports through a threat lens and get them triaged appropriately,” explains Jeffery. “It became the catch-all for any concerning situation, from a burned out parking lot light to roommate conflicts.”

But over the last few years, what started as a simple landing page has grown into the Tell Somebody reporting platform.

“The community has really leaned into using Tell Somebody as a trusted mechanism to report concerns around students, employees, friends. We’ve started viewing it as an ecosystem that’s backed up by teams and processes that help us make good on the promise that if you tell somebody, someone will at least respond.”

To cement Tell Somebody’s status as a trusted campus resource, Jeffery and his team knew the next step would be making the act of reporting more convenient for all Aggies. That’s what led Texas A&M to RealResponse.

“Our students, although not ideal, live in their devices, which was an area where we wanted to be more pervasive with our students. So, at any point they want to report something or share a concern, they can do so without much thought or effort.” 

Empowering Aggies to pick their reporting preference  

Today, the Tell Somebody ecosystem offers the Texas A&M community three ways to share information: the web form, as well as via two-way, anonymous text and email powered by RealResponse. Having options means everyone can choose to report on their terms, rather than being forced into one setting—or choosing to stay silent. 

“A lot of our faculty and academic advisors rely on the traditional form, folks who don’t have concerns around their identity being known,” says Jeffery. “We see our younger students gravitating to RealResponse. It’s a convenience piece, it’s familiar, and they can start a more organic conversation.”

More channels may seem like a fast track to being inundated with information. But Jeffery’s team has taken intentional steps to make this more manageable:

• Starting with a soft launch before rolling out the new RealResponse options campus-wide.

• Hiring a full-time triager dedicated to managing the entire Tell Somebody ecosystem and route reports to the relevant teams. 

• Collaborating closely with campus partners (e.g., the University Police Department and the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX), to ensure all stakeholders have the visibility needed to keep Aggies safe. 

And with more flexibility for reporting to become a conversation rather than a one-way message, Texas A&M can capture the comprehensive, actionable details that were difficult to capture via forms alone. Even if someone is unsure if an incident they witnessed was hazing or discrimination, they have a safe space to reach out and share what they know. 

“RealResponse lets us engage, get more details about a situation, and really do something about it. Whereas in the past we might not have a way to go back, leaving us without evidence and facts to hold an organization accountable.”

Showing up is the new standard

The Tell Somebody ecosystem now serves as a lifeline and an emblem of trust across the Texas A&M community. RealResponse eliminates the barrier of figuring out where to report, and makes it feasible for Jeffery and his team to serve all Aggies faster.

“If you report something, you'll hear back within a certain amount of hours—we really hold ourselves to that.”

Expediting the timeline from outreach to outcomes helps tackle misconduct, and better support students and faculty when they need it most.  

Reflecting on one instance where an employee reached out seeking resources for a coworker who’d expressed suicidal thoughts, Jeffery shares, “Those stories make us incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue the conversation rather than what we were operating with before.”  

Learn more about how RealResponse can amplify the voices and insights you need to keep your entire campus community safe.