On college and university campuses across the country, the role of the campus police officer is changing. More and more, school leaders are authorizing the arming of sworn officers to allow them to provide a higher level of protection in the areas they patrol and to allow for a more effective response in high-risk situations.

With the multitude of doors, entrances and restricted areas found on a university campus, maintaining safe and secure facilities presents unique challenges. To help facilitate the task, key control and asset management systems can be installed as an effective and increasingly important physical security technology for safeguarding dormitories, research labs, administrative buildings and so on. Regardless of the size or type of facility, a fundamental building block of an overall security strategy can be realized through managed key control and its capability for custom solutions, minimizing and monitoring risk and seamless integration with the building’s global physical security system.

The fall school season, which is now fully underway, has been made a little easier for those college campuses that implemented a key control system over the previous summer months. The systems allow the staff to maintain better control of master keys and any keys used for high value areas such as research labs, athletic facilities or IT environments. There is even more value for the school in the form of enhanced security and safety when key control solutions are applied to residential life, maintenance and other applications across the campus.

Rules and regulations governing the use of door locks in K-12 schools are designed to help ensure the safety and security of the students, staff and faculty. They are enforced for both security reasons (keeping unwanted visitors out, securing valuable assets, etc.) and for safety reasons (quick, unencumbered egress) and can significantly affect the welfare of the school environment. Controlling and managing the door/building keys, while not governed by fire or safety codes, play an equally important role in maintaining the safety and security of the students, staff and facility.

As students, faculty and staff head back to school at this time of year, safety and security are fundamental objectives of the school environment. One way to achieve these goals is with managed key control systems and policies.