Mount Holyoke A card-carrying campus

Mar 1, 2001 12:00 PM

The installation was no problem. We moved at our own pace, starting slowly by building the infrastructure and the hardware behind the scenes in January of 1999. We had a lot of wiring already in place so we were able to use existing copper wire and some fiber optics.

We are considering total card access, both internal and external, on all these buildings. Just imagine a totally keyless building!

Mount Holyoke College is a small liberal arts college for women that boasts centuries-old buildings and sweeping vistas. Located in the story-book town of South Hadley, Mass., the college has an enrollment of more than 2,000 students living in 19 residence halls. Recently, the administration had concerns about access on campus. While students and faculty have to be given free access to certain areas, administrators needed to keep unwanted people off of the campus.

“We have 250 doors that have to be locked at night, opened in the morning and monitored for intrusion, but we did not have an alarm system on all the doors,” explains Doug Vanderpoel, systems administrator for Mount Holyoke. “Before the new system, we found doors that had been left open all night and, although we had not had any serious incidents, we had no central monitoring function to control the comings and goings on campus.”

Key control was also an issue. Lost, stolen, or unreturned keys resulted in entire residences having to be re-keyed. “When a key is lost or stolen, we have no way of knowing who may have gotten access to it, and we cannot place the security of our students at risk,” says Vanderpoel.

The college conducted a feasibility study in 1995 to determine if a card system would work on campus. The study highlighted the need for improved access and security across the campus and, in the spring of 1998, the college solicited vendors for a system that would accommodate its needs. General Meters Corp., Colorado Springs, Colo., won the bid.

The university one-card system is designed to address university-specific issues. The system has the flexibility to handle a variety of functions including perimeter, residence and recreational area access, vending services, library access and lending, meal plans, and book store purchases.

In the past, students and faculty were issued keys for the areas they were allowed to access but frequent exceptions made the system unworkable. For example, one faculty member, who has his office in the library building, needed to access his office late at night and could not get into the building without assistance from campus security. Furthermore, students and faculty members were expected to hand in their keys at the end of the year but occasionally some did not, making replacement necessary.

“We had been looking for a way to offer more options and flexibility to the students, as well as have the card serve a multi-purpose function,” says Vanderpoel. “We wanted a card to control door access, meal plan administration, and a debit account for vending purchases.”

The One-Card system runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and processes and updates all account information online, in real-time.

The Universal Card Access and Security module handles all types of security sensors, keeps complete records of who enters where and when, has a panic station facility and provides reports to monitor actual traffic flow at designated periods. It stores information related to access to residences, libraries and computer labs as well as student use of meal plans and purchases at cash points.

“We chose General Meters because one card handles photo ID, access, debit card functions and security monitoring,” says Vanderpoel.

Mount Holyoke introduced the system in stages. It began in the fall of 1998 by taking pictures of the future card-holders. The user database was culled then largely from student enrollment records. When necessary, the one-card system can also download information from other computers by way of tape or disk.

Once the picture ID process was completed, Mount Holyoke began acquiring the necessary equipment and installing the networking. The system that ties the network managers to the access terminals uses twisted-pair telephone wires.

“The installation was no problem,” says Vanderpoel. “We moved at our own pace, starting slowly by building the infrastructure and the hardware behind the scenes in January of 1999. We had a lot of wiring already in place so we were able to use existing copper wire and some fiber optics.”

All 250 doors of the Mount Holyoke campus are now alarmed, and there is one central monitoring point using the master security monitor, which allows the security office to monitor the 90 intrusion alarms across the campus. A lost card can be locked out in less than a minute, thus eliminating the hassle and expense of re-keying when a key is lost or stolen.

“Hundreds of master keys have been made over the years. Card access allowed us to introduce a new master system without interrupting the community,” says Vanderpoel.

Each access point produces a record of all entrances and the central processor stores who entered, what entry point it is, the time and the date. This feature was recently used to locate a student in an emergency. By displaying the last location where the card was used or setting the system to activate an alarm condition the next time it is used, the person can be located easily.

“In the beginning, there was some resistance to the idea of our being able to track the cards, but it is worth it if we can find someone in an emergency,” explains Vanderpoel. “We only look at the records should an incident or a valid request arise. Our public safety office has in fact used our system for a lineup to locate and identify a wanted person.”

Mount Holyoke uses the system for dormitory access, perimeter access, and intrusion alarms. Access control is flexible and can allow either groups of people, or only a select few, to enter a facility. Categories of access can be set up to suit the campus, such as full-time student, part-time student or faculty. At Mount Holyoke, students are granted access to all residences and teaching halls but not to maintenance areas. Access codes can be overwritten if needed, or made time-specific.

Alarm conditions appear on the screen, with location descriptions and the type of alarm conditions preset by Mount Holyoke staff. The system tracks and records each alarm and the acknowledgment of the officer on duty who responds to the alarm. Various alarm conditions have even been assigned different colors to indicate to an officer the type of alarm before he reads the message.

The college wanted to track purchases of meal plans and other services. Mount Holyoke offers a meal plan that students buy in advance. Each of the 19 residences has a dining hall.

Once a student has created an account and places funds in it, she can use the card at any of the dining halls that accepts a direct deduction off the card or she may use it as a debit card at cash points. The card system stores information related to all transactions.

“We were able to take away dining hall assignments, and the students now have the flexibility to choose where they would like to dine, in the halls or at our cash operations,” says Vanderpoel. “This gives them a lot more freedom of choice.”

Card access has also helped the college deal with several outside vendors who provide services such as soda machines, copiers and laundry facilities. Mount Holyoke has 45 soda machines, 20 laundry machines and four snack vending machines tied into the system online and, due to the success with these vendors, the college has begun a pilot program to include two copy machines online. Since the system was installed, revenues from the vending machines have increased by 40 percent.

The vendors are linked to the system without jeopardizing the privacy of their operations. They receive regular reports of the activity on their equipment and the funds are transferred directly.

Mount Holyoke has three major building projects in the next year, and the card system will be incorporated into all of them. One of the new buildings is a science lab, and Mount Holyoke plans to use card access to monitor lab access, hood ventilation, emergency panic switches and chemical storage as well as external access, security and vending in the building.

“We are considering total card access, both internal and external, on all these buildings,” explains Vanderpoel. “Just imagine a totally keyless building!”

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