Procedure leaves students stranded

After a day of classes, freshman Callie Malone and other Teter Quad residents came home to find that the key they’d been using all semester to get into the building no longer worked.

Early last week, Teter switched its building entry to student ID accessible only.
“None of the residents received any type of warning or notification that their keys would no longer work,” Malone said.

"Many students found themselves stranded outside of the building.”

Until this point, entry into the Teter buildings has been accessed by the same metal key students use to access their individual floors.

Entry by swiping a resident student ID card has always been activated, but as of Sept. 19, it became the only way to get into a Teter building.

Max Crouse, a freshman Teter resident, said he had gone out for a jog one late afternoon without realizing he would not be able to reenter the building without his
student ID.

“Not only did they not tell anyone, but they put the signs that you had to see to know they had changed it on the outsides of the door,” Crouse said.

“So when I left the dorm, I didn’t see any sign, and I didn’t know I needed a keycard. When I got back from my run, I had to walk into the central building to go down to the basement to get to my room from there.”

Teter’s residence manager, Dennis Perkins, said this is a standard procedure that is explained to students during Welcome Week.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened,” Perkins said. “We tell the students at floor meetings during Welcome Week to always have your ID. It’s actually an A-Z Handbook policy.”

The switch to card entry happens every year and is the same procedure that all residence centers on campus follow, Perkins said.

Perkins said a grace period with key entry is allowed at the beginning of a semester when students first move into the buildings before they make the switch to cards only.

Teter delayed the switch to card entry until it was able to move all women out of the temporary housing in floor lounges, which was accomplished last week.

“We posted signs Sunday, and the change happened Monday,” Perkins said.

However, he said he is aware that sometimes students do not take notice right away of signs that are posted.

Assistant residence manager Sarah Casares began working at Teter the Monday of the change and said she had not noticed the signs until Thursday morning.

“I’ve been here all week, and I just now saw one,” Casares said. “So they’re easy
to miss.”

Perkins said they work with floor resident assistants when communicating information to students and ask for feedback on “other ways we can better communicate.”

Students are speaking out against the changes in many different forms, and many have called home about the lock changes.

“The residents of Teter are considering starting a campaign to notify parents that their children are being left on the streets at all hours with total lack of concern for their welfare and safety,” Malone said in an email.

Perkins said he was not aware of any complaints from students yet, but the change happened in all other centers and was not unusual.

While the system may not have changed, the lesson holds for new students who found themselves stranded: “Always have your ID,” Perkins said. “We tell students that from day one.”