Page 76 - Security Today, January/February 2020

"The ability to integrate our existing technology gave flexibility to make adjust- ments as needed without replacing the entire system across campus."
By Jeff Bransfield
Boosting Access Control
Missouri university has long history of technology advances
Data Integration
Missouri University of Science & Technology (Mis- souri S&T) sits on 284 acres between Springfield and St. Louis in the city of Rolla, Missouri. Mis- souri S&T was founded in 1870 as one of the first technological institutions west of the Mississippi. As many as 8,000 students attend the university, which offers degree programs in engineering, computer science, business and manage- ment systems, information science and technology, sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts.
Demand for Solutions
As Missouri S&T has grown, so has the demand for new facilities and updated buildings, which necessitated additional security solutions.
The university was using a number of different platforms to control access to various buildings that made up the main campus of the university, as well as a physical lock-and-key system that posed sev- eral challenges when it came to security oversight and management.
With 35 buildings and numerous residence halls to manage across its campus, Missouri S&T sought to automate various systems
through a centralized access control platform.
“When every key issued isn’t returned, you don’t know who has
access, which can create significant risk to an organization,” said Fred Stone, the Director of Design and Construction Management at Mis- souri S&T who worked on the system.
In addition to modernizing its access control system, the univer- sity had a strong need for automation that could eliminate time spent on managing the system and which facilities were open to each staff member, Stone said.
"Granting access and making decisions based on existing data sources required a platform that was flexible and could conform to our own customized business processes," Stone said.
Missouri S&T staff wanted the ability to incorporate data into its human resources, student management, course enrollment and event management system.
For example, only students and relevant staff would have access to student dormitories after hours. S&T staff wanted a system that allowed access and excluded access based on access need and security.
“Before the updates to our system, if someone wanted to give a
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