Page 32 - College Planning & Management, May 2018

Safety & Security PREPARE AND BE AWARE
Electronic Security on College Campuses
College campuses need to secure lots of doors, today. Security departments are turning to electronic locks to secure those doors.
BY MICHAEL FICKES
TRADITIONAL, but now old-fashioned, mechanical key locks are disappearing from college and university campuses. Electronic locks have proven a more effective, more secure means of locking doors.
That’s especially important in light of today’s lethal outbreaks of violence, a number of which have occurred on school, college, and university campuses.
Violent outbreaks don’t really happen all that often, but when someone does show up—anywhere—with a deadly weapon
and intent on using it, the results can prove so tragic that school administrations and security departments are seeking and taking extra steps to keep members of their campus communities safe.
First Steps
Perhaps the first and most basic step that can be taken is to im- prove the security of campus doors by replacing mechanical keyed locks with electronic locking systems.
Conventional mechanical keyed locks have great disadvan- tages. “Keys can be lost,” says Jeff Koziol, national account man- ager–Software Alliance Member, with Allegion, a company that specializes in door locks, closers, and exit devices, including steel doors, frames, and access control systems.
Lost keys can be expensive for a college or university. A single key lost by a single student isn’t a big deal, notes Koziol. The student reports the loss and has the key replaced. “On the other
32 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / MAY 2018
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PHOTO © BY SOMPETCH KANAKORNPRATIP