Quinnipiac University
Located in Hamden, CT, Quinnipiac University houses approximately 3,000 of its nearly 8,000 students in campus residence halls. In 2002, the university researched the plausibility of changing the residence hall locking system. “When Derek Zuckerman, assistant director of residential life, joined the Quinnipiac team, he made the case to switch the residence halls from a key to a card locking system,” explained Keith Woodward, associate director of facilities. “Based on his experience at another school, Derek believed that converting to a card system would simplify life for the students and the facility administrators.”
Quinnipiac began its research by turning to SARGENT for suggestions. SARGENT, manufacturer of most the school’s locking hardware, recommended PERSONA, a sister company within the ASSA ABLOY Group. A team of residential, security, Q-Card, IT and facilities personnel reviewed a proposal from PERSONA, studied the product capabilities and put the lockset through a series of vigorous tests. “The lock withstood some abusive tests, but the one thing we liked best about the PERSONA lockset was the audit trail feature,” Woodward noted. “If an incident occurs, this feature allows us to interrogate the lock and determine who entered the room or if a door was propped open; it generates accountability.”
No other stand-alone lock has the ability to record if a door was propped open. This feature encourages students to take greater responsibility for their room security and lessens school liability if facility personnel determine a theft was the result of a propped door. After a favorable analysis, the PERSONA locks were installed in a new residence hall for a year-long trial. “The locks performed so well and the students liked them so much that we decided to push for a major overhaul of the residence hall locking system,” Woodward explained.
“But first, we had to convince the rest of the administration about the benefits of switching to the card reader lock,” he continued. “Crime isn’t a major problem on our campus, but still, we like to take steps to protect our students. If something does happen, though, PERSONA provides accountability by allowing us to audit the lock.”
Other features and benefits of the stand-alone, battery operated PERSONA lock were presented: accommodates an unlimited number of card users and 250 user groups, unlimited time schedules, 700 event audit trail, summer conference function, works with existing mag stripe ID cards and the lockset is ADA compliant.
“The administration agreed with our findings and we went forward and replaced all the room locks in 22 residence halls with PERSONA locksets,” Woodward stated. “We chose to look at it as an investment in our student’s safety and a chance to offer them more freedom; as long as they closed their door when they left their room, the students know the PERSONA lock would prevent any unauthorized access.”
Because PERSONA integrates easily with existing ID cards, the locks were a natural fit for Quinnipiac’s Q-Card system—a network of services that are accessible and operate from a multi-purpose ID card. In addition to opening their doors, the cards are used for meals, laundry, vending machines, copy machines, checking out books and equipment and accessing the fitness center. The cards are also an accepted form of payment by nearly 40 local merchants.
“The students can basically do anything they want on campus by using their card,” said Zuckerman. “From an administrative standpoint the cards are great. They eliminate the need for a key system which is more time consuming and expensive to maintain. At the end of the school year I would have to sort through 1,500 keys and trace which lock they went with. Plus, if something is missing from a student’s room, the audit trail capability makes our jobs easier because it can track the access history and determine if the student left their door propped open.
“With the accountability feature, we feel comfortable giving students access to all the dormitories, not just their own,” Zuckerman continued. “We hope to further expand campus accessibility by including the card reader locks in some of the classroom buildings. The PERSONA locking solution has been instrumental in improving security and giving our student population greater freedom.”