BSU Dormitories Change Locks: Will Key Cards Bring Better Security?

By Alex Schlee, 4/27/11

Card readers like this one next to the handicapped-access
button at the basement entrance of Tamarack Hall
have been installed at each door to every residence hall.  

Until recently, key cards were a gadget found only in the pockets of Linden Hall residents on the BSU campus.  However, ever since April 11, 2011, all dorm residents will be forced by the university to make a switch to keycards similar to those of Linden residents.  

The Department of Residential Life has been working towards this goal ever since the renovation of Linden Hall in 2008.  The motivation has been safety concerns.  In halls such as Oak Hall, each wing has been locked down for extra security measures.  

Students seem to have mixed feelings about the change; some say it is a step in the right direction for upgrading campus security, but others think that the whole ordeal is a waste of time and money.  They are a hassle to keep track of, they say, especially now that students are required to use two sets of keys (the new cards, and the old metal keys) just to get to their room.  

“[We] have a lot of students losing their room keys already, and this is just one more thing to lose,” said Rachel Ramponi, a student worker at the front desk of Birch Hall.  Ramponi was one of the many student workers who were responsible for distributing the new key cards to the dorm residents.  

Dale Ladig, Director of the Department of Residential Life

Dale Ladig, director of the Department of Residential Life, said that the key cards give the campus security office more control over the residence halls.  The dorms can be locked from the security office in Walnut Hall, and certain individuals can be denied access to the buildings if needed.  For example: if a contractor team is working on a building, and they are scheduled to work from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., their cards can be deactivated after six so they can’t get back in when they are not working.  

The use of cards can also be monitored, and the amount of times a door had been opened can be kept track of.  Also, any door open longer than 15 seconds is responded to by a security officer.  The security office is locked down and password protected, so control of the dormitory doors is protected from being commandeered.  
“The key-list cards are the wave of the future,” said Ladig.  

One of the several doors into Birch Hall, where some minor
issues have occurred with the new key cards

The new key cards are not perfect, however, and there have been some kinks in the transition.  Birch Hall, the oldest dorm on campus, has experienced the most problems.  There is no main door to the building, so consistency with access to every smaller door was shaky at first.  A-wing residents found that some of their key cards did not allow access to any A-wing doors for awhile.  When renovated, Birch Hall will have better doors installed, and card readers will be put in the entrances to each wing as well.  

So far, there have been no great effects on campus security yet.  According to Ladig, most security reports received in the dormitories involve residents of those dorms, so the change in keys has not deterred the reports by much.  This was not expected to change at all, and should not be looked at as a measure of success.