College Planning & Management

FEB 2013

College Planning & Management is the information resource for professionals serving the college and university market. Covering facilities, security, technology and business.

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police and campus security officers on patrol can greet visitors walking across campus. For visitors that seem to know where they are headed, officers can put on a warm friendly smile and say something like: "Welcome to campus. Have a good day." For visitors that seem lost or confused, the smile is the same but the greeting is more direct: "Welcome to campus; you look a little lost. May I help you find your way?" Security consultants add that students, faculty, and staff encountering visitors should welcome visitors with a smile and a greeting as well as an offer of help if it seems appropriate. Don't think of this as a false front. Virtually all visitors on virtually every day have good intentions. A genuinely friendly greeting or nod and an offer of help communicates that this is a place that is ready, willing, and happy to help visitors accomplish their goals. For the handful of people with bad intentions, it communicates something else: everyone is watching you. But Students, Faculty, and Staff Won't Wear ID Badges Yes, they will. "It can be difficult," concedes Thompson. "The best way that I've found is to tie the ID badge to everyday activities. Give everyone reasons to have their badges out all the time. Make EVACUATION CHAIRS and EQUIPMENT NOBODY LEFT BEHIND • EASE OF DEPLOYMENT • MANEUVERABILITY • LIGHTWEIGHT • CONTROLLED SPEED OF DESCENT • EASE OF USE 34 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / FEBRUARY 2013 PHOTO © SHANNON O'CONNOR HOW TO WELCOME CAMPUS VISITORS EVERYONE WILL BE WEARING ONE OF THESE. Reminding everyone on campus to wear an identification badge — and having in place a system that allows you to quickly provide temporary badges to campus visitors — is part of an integrated campus security system. Including a lanyard with the card — color-coded for students, faculty, staff, administrators, and visitors — will make the badge easy to put on and wear. it possible to have it out all the time by providing a lanyard — with different colors for students, faculty, administrators, staff, and visitors. "Tie the card to building and elevator access control systems. Pair access control card functions with campus one-card systems for vending, meals, laundry rooms, and general debit transactions." Security must talk the policy up as well, by approaching members of the campus community with reminders to wear their ID badges. Plus, literature about the rationales for wearing the badges can appear on the campus public safety website, in periodic email reminders sent to students, and at other locations online and on campus. Centralized Building-by-Building Technology Back up the welcoming attitude and badges with technology that streamlines and speeds visitor badging and visitor management. Thompson says that campuses today should use centralized visitor management packages that provide badges for visitors building by building and a centralized database of who is visiting in each building. More and more institutions require visitors to leave a piece of collateral — such as a driver's license — at the reception desk in exchange for the badge, continues Thompson. Collateral is especially important if the badge has embedded technology to enable access through locked doors. When the visitor leaves, he or she returns the badge and retrieves the collateral. You can buy a centralized visitor management system and install it on campus, or subscribe to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) that provides visitor management services remotely over a web browser. Either way, choose a system with comprehensive capabilities. When a visitor enters building A, he checks in with the receptionist — no need for a security officer to do this in most facilities — and receives WWW.PLANNING 4EDUCATION.COM

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