There is an article in this week’s Maroon about dorm security. The article supplements a video made by the paper’s staff as they get in to the dorms at Loyola without the required identification and show that it’s not a difficult process. This wasn’t any real surprise of mine but it does expose a pretty important security issue.
What can schools do to increase the safety of their dorms from an entry control stand point? I think the most important thing schools can do is create a single point of entry and exit to all their residence halls. This allows much more control from a physical point of view and also makes the dorms more social since people are forced to interact while approaching that central access point. This is one aspect of student housing that Loyola does an excellent job at.
After the buildings have a single way in and out the next important step is to staff that entrance with a well trained person all the time. Training should include proper procedure as well as the reasoning behind the procedures. Many problems encountered during my stint as an RA resulted from poorly trained work study students not doing their jobs properly. While at the desk a person’s responsibility becomes checking that each individual trying to enter the dorm is allowed to do so. This also involves monitoring visitor check-in and check-out as well as any other responsibilities (Tulane rents movies, Loyola checks out vacuums). As a part of this, residents of the dorms should each have something on their identification which makes it easy to detect whether they are in the right dorm or not at a glance. Loyola used “building stickers” for this purpose with each sticker being a different color. This allowed desk staff to glance at the ID and ensure the student was in the proper dorm.
Another side benefit of having the dorms staffed is that it provides a simple mechanism for problems. If someone crazy does enter the desk assistant can push the panic button. If something breaks the desk assistant can write up the work order. If a roommate is passed out in the hallway the desk assistant should be able to call for assistance. This requires the desk assistant to be given some level of control over their dorm. My biggest complaint while an RA at Loyola was that the dorms failed to empower the desk assistant.
For desk assistants to be able to perform their duties, they need to be able to control the entryway and lobby of the dorm. This means that beyond a certain point in the building, residents should have to walk around the desk through a single choke point that allows each person to be identified. Elevators and stairs to other parts of the building should be located only behind that point. This ensures that everyone going to the rooms has at least walked past the desk. Desks off to the side of a lobby allow ample room for people to sneak around the desk. When well placed desks are given good visibility of the lobby and entryway the likelihood that intruders could be easily detected greatly increases. Well placed desks also thwart potential intruders as they see a more difficult obstacle to gaining entry.
