Higher Education Security

Problem

Ithaca College is a coeducational and non-sectarian nationally recognized comprehensive college located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. The large campus is comprised of ninety-plus buildings with approximately one third designated to student housing. Processing returning and new students at the beginning of each semester is a monumental task performed at multiple campus locations by various administrative departments.

 

Providing each student with their campus ID card and assigning them to their multi-unit residential facility is the responsibility of Residential Life. The student ID is a pre-paid card that is used in the dining hall for meal plans and for debit purchases on and off campus. Processing and managing the cashless transactions is accomplished through an on-line debit system. The student ID card database resides on a different system which also prints the cards. Student housing assignment is managed on still another system.

 

Solution

Ithaca College Residential Life retained Aggleton & Associates for the task of assisting them with the implementation of a card reader access control system at each of the campus residence entrances. As part of our initial planning we discussed the possibility of integrating some of the above systems and functions with the new res life access control system thus eliminating some of the multiple system data entry functions that were part of the existing process. We developed a performance criterion that was combined with their wish-list with the ultimate objective of streamlining the res life process. 

 

Based on our experience with various access control systems, seven manufacturers were invited to provide presentations outlining their product’s ability to meet the performance criterion.