Security and Personal Safety
Precautions should be taken by residents to protect themselves and their personal property. All residents have the right to feel safe and secure in their living environment, and that their belongings are secure as well. One of the simplest steps that can be taken is for residents to keep doors, vehicles, and bicycles locked, and to discuss security of the living space with roommates. Group decisions must be made about guests in the apartment or suite, carrying keys on persons so that doors can be locked when the unit is unoccupied, and borrowing, lending, and use of personal property, including food.
Community policing is effective in identifying and addressing security and safety issues, including maintenance issues, unwanted visitors, unsupervised guests, and inappropriate behaviors of neighbors and roommates who may not be respecting the personal space and property of others. Reporting suspicious people or behaviors to a Community Advisor or to the Security Officer will aid in the department’s attempts to intervene and correct the issue. Community Advisors, Peer Advocates, and four professional staff members reside in student housing to provide 24-hour assistance to residents, and should be called upon in instances where security is at risk.
Additional tips for residents to follow in order to improve personal safety and security of their belongings are provided below.
Protecting Yourself
While the university attempts to provide a safe campus environment, it cannot guarantee one’s safety. Every student must exercise good judgment, common sense and take reasonable precautions to protect themselves and their property.
Protect yourself in Student Housing
- Lock your door when you leave and when you go to sleep. Nighttime visitors are not unheard of.
- Discuss safety and security of your apartment or suite with your roommates
- Ask unescorted guests to leave and report intruders
- Don’t bring strangers home with you
Take steps to protect yourself when walking or jogging:
- Go with someone
- Try to stay near streetlights and lighted paths; don’t be afraid to utilize emergency call boxes
- Protect your valuables
- Don’t carry large amounts of cash
- Report suspicious activity to the CA on duty or to Campus Security
If you are being followed:
- Cross the street
- Change direction
- Keep looking back so the persons know you cannot be surprised
- Go to a well-lit area, enter a housing building, classroom, or library— anywhere there are people
- Notice and remember as much as possible about the person so you can give a good description
- Report suspicious activity to the CA on duty or to Campus Security
Protecting Your Belongings
- Protect your personal property:
- Lock your doors
- Ask uninvited and unescorted guests to leave
- Lock your doors
- Discuss the security of your living area with your roommates
- Make a list of your valuables
- Lock your doors
- Engrave your valuables with an ID number or label belongings such as DVDs, electronics, and even food with a permanent marker or paint pen
- Lock your doors
- Don’t leave your belongings unattended in lounges, hallways, gym facilities, libraries, or classrooms
- And, lastly, lock your doors!
Protect your bicycle:
- Always lock it
- Record the description, serial number and registration number and register it at the Lodge Desk
- Store it in the bicycle racks when not in use
Protect your car:
- Always lock your car
- Lock valuables in the trunk
Report any instances of vandalism or theft to the CA on duty or to the security officer immediately. Campus vandalism and theft end up costing the residents. Students pay for school property through tuition and fees. Damage and theft raise educational costs — and students are often the ones who pay for those increases.
Building Security
Banfield Hall and the Lodge are secured facilities. Banfield is to remain locked and secured 24 hours a day. The Lodge entrances lock at 10:00pm and unlock at 8:00am, but will be accessible to residents by swipe card access until 12:00am on weeknights and 2:00am on Friday and Saturday nights. Any person found propping a Banfield Hall or Lodge door, or in any way preventing it from properly locking during those hours that it is supposed to be locked will receive a $25 fine for the first offense and will receive judicial action and a higher fine for repeat offenses. 24-hour security cameras are located in common areas and at entrances of both buildings.
Keys
Keys and key cards are the property of the UAS; duplication and unauthorized possession of university keys is prohibited. Only authorized lock hardware may be installed on university property. All others will be removed. Students are expected to be responsible for any keys issued to them. Lost or misplaced keys must be reported to the Lodge Desk and can be replaced by filling out the Lost Key Form. The Banfield and Apartment abloy keys are part of a complex system that is difficult to duplicate, and also very expensive to replace. Replacement charges, which often include not only cutting of a new key but of re-coring the doors that the lost key can access, are listed below.
Single abloy door key
|
$170.00 |
Small housing door key
|
$85.00 |
Mailbox key
|
$25.00 |
Temporary swipe access card
|
$10.00 |
Staff-issued Lodge door key
|
$250.00 |
UAS Identification Cards
At the time of enrollment, each student will be issued a student identification card. This card must be presented at the Mourant Café, Spike’s Coffee Shop, and the Lodge Convenience Store for meal plan charges; at the library to check out books; to gain access into Banfield Hall, the Lodge, or the housing computer labs; for admission at the Student Recreation Center; and to any member of the Residence Life staff upon request. The identification card is also used to admit students to many of the campus activities and events.
Residential students will have these ID cards activated for electronic access to residential buildings. Students using identification cards not belonging to them, lending their I.D. cards, or in any way misrepresenting or refusing to identify themselves will be subject to disciplinary action plus a $25.00 fine.
Replacements of lost or damaged I.D. cards may be obtained through the Student Accounts office for $10.00. Because students living in student housing have electronic access programmed onto their ID cards, it is imperative that they report lost cards immediately to the Lodge Desk or to the Housing Office to protect the security of the buildings and the safety of the other residents.
Students in possession of unauthorized keys will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including eviction, expulsion, fines, and possible criminal charges. Fines for possession of unauthorized keys or failure to turn in keys at the end of one’s residency term will be applied to the student account. Student staff who have been found to lend their keys to another student will be terminated from their employment with the department.
Security Officer
UAS Housing contracts Nightwatch Security Services to provide a nighttime security guard in the student housing complex. Officer George Walters monitors security cameras and evening happenings around housing to identify potential security issues, trespassers, disturbances, illegal activity, and policy violations. Students should feel free to approach George with any concerns or observations that he should be aware of.
