Building Access Control

In 1997, the USF St. Petersburg initiated numerous initiatives to increase the security for its students, faculty, staff and facilities. The Building Access Control Project is part of those initiatives.

The objective of this project is to increase the security of USF St. Petersburg by streamlining the management of access to its facilities. Another part of the objective is to implement a system that enhances campus security without disrupting the educational and recreational activities of the university.

Strategy

The strategy of this project is to provide a flexible system with modern technology at its core. Card access is primarily be used for managing access into buildings and offices during, or after, hours of operation. These tasks are accomplished by using card readers on the exterior doors or interior doors of various campus buildings.

The exterior doors of campus buildings have been physically "re-keyed" to increase campus security. This means that all faculty, staff, and students that need access to campus facilities must have a valid USF ID card and an electronic access/entry card. Most interior doors continue to have manual keys and locks.

A critical step towards achieving successful access control is to define hours of operation (schedules) for each campus building. After hours of operation the buildings will be locked.

All door locks are re-keyed during installation of the card system. The manual key will not be assigned or carried by University Police personnel, but will be made available through University Police in an emergency situation only. Manual, metal key access to exterior doors will be used only for emergency purposes, when a valid entry card will not properly provide access.

 

The Current System

Currently, two access control systems exist on the USF St. Petersburg campus. The first is a traditional door lock and key access system. The second is the Proximity electronic entry card system deployed by Campus Computing.

The buildings listed below are currently equipped with the entry card system. As USF St. Petersburg expands, adding new buildings and departments, our entry card system plans will be adjusted accordingly to include new buildings and offices.

• Bayboro Hall
• Campus Activities Center
• Children's Research Institute
• Coquina Hall
• Davis Hall
• Harbor Hall
• Parking Garage
• Piano Man
• Piano Man Research Lab
• PRW Florida Center for Teachers
• Residence Hall One
• Residence Hall Two
• Science and Technology Building
• Student Center

The access control method for the remaining buildings on campus is a traditional key system.

 

Advantages of the Current System

While the key system has proved to be reliable from a mechanical perspective, there are some major limitations associated with it.

• Inability to automatically lock exterior doors after hours of operation.
• Inability to quickly discontinue access to former faculty, staff and students.
• Inability to quickly "re-key" a building or the entire campus if a key is lost.

The newer, electronic entry card system provides:

• A campus-wide card access system for managing access to buildings, exterior doors and selected interior doors.
• Utilization of existing processes to manage, approve or terminate access to faculty, staff, students and visitors.
• The ability to manage access after hours of operation.
• The ability to limit the number of entry points to buildings during, or after, hours of operation and weekends.
• The ability to quickly and cost effectively modify a building's exterior access.
• The ability to integrate the use of security cameras if needed.

The card access system is usually limited to the exterior doors, but can be adapted for interior doors if needed. However, most interior doors will continue to function on the traditional key system. Departments, auxiliaries and grants, using their own funds, may request to adapt an interior door for electronic card access. All costs for installation and maintenance will be the responsibility of the respective customer.