As students walk down Dorm Road, they may notice something a little different about university residence halls. Near every door there is a little black box. The box is the location of the new card swiping system on campus.
“We have been working on this program for the last three years,” said Derek Zuckerman, Associate Director of Residential Life. “Mountain View was the first dorm to have card access. Last year was a test of the system for the university.”
Much research had gone into this system. Zuckerman said a committee met every week for the last three years to go over every aspect of the system to see if it was the best move for the University.
The committee was made up of three people from facilities, two from Information Technology, two from Administrative Services, and the chief of security.
“Working on such a committee was a good experience,” said Zuckerman. “It gave us a chance to really look over all the aspects of card access and gain different persepectives.”
The committee and the school agree that the new system is beneficial to the Quinnipiac community.
“The card swipe system gives the students a form of accountability,” said Zuckerman. “Now, every time you put a card into a lock, there is a record of the action.”
This also adds to the protection of the residence halls as a whole.
Zuckerman said if something happens in a residence hall, they can look up the records of all people who were in the building at that time.
Students will also now have a hard time staying later and coming earlier than they are supposed to during breaks.
“When the (halls are) closed, we really are closed,” said Zuckerman. “Students can no longer stay later if they are not supposed to because when the data comes, their keys no longer work.”
The new program is called Vingcard system.
“It is a very complicated online system where there is an an online system and an off line system where actions are recorded,” said Zuckerman.
Because actions are recorded, when doors and locks are vandalized, the University will know where the action is taking place.
“The University will no longer tolerate the tampering with locks that used to occur in the residence halls,” said Zuckerman. “We will be extra vigilant to people who do things to the doors.”
On whether the new security system is more efficient for student usage, Zuckerman had this to say:
“Students have said they like the fact that they don’t have to carry around a key anymore. It has made it a lot easier for them because they only have to grab a card and go.”
The only qualm heard was the fact that all doors now lock automatically.
Another question on many people’s minds was if the Resident Assistants were still going to have a master key to the rooms in the residence halls.
“When the RA’s are on duty, they will have a master key,” said Zuckerman. “This key will be valid for the shift of the RA and will be turned off when they are off duty.”
Even with the new card system, it will still be easy to replace lost Q-cards. The card will still be $20 and can be purchased at Administrative Services, located adjacent to the library.
