Formerly Executive Memorandum 93-104
Initially approved August 1, 1993
Revised January 8, 2001
Policy Topic: University Factilities and State Owned Property
Administering Office: Physical Plant and University Police
It is desirable to have campus facilities open and available to serve their intended purposes. At the same time, the University has important responsibilities for the safety of persons and the safekeeping of property within its buildings. Consequently, a responsible balance must be drawn between concerns for accessibility and security.
To that end, the following policies shall apply: Monday through Friday, with the exception of faculty and staff who maintain permanent office assignment in the building, academic buildings are to be vacated and locked by Physical Plant custodians when custodial services are completed, generally between 11 p.m. and midnight; they are to remain locked until Physical Plant housekeeping personnel open the buildings at approximately 7 a.m. the following morning. On Saturday, housekeeping personnel will unlock the academic buildings by 8 a.m.; they will be re-locked at approximately 5 p.m. on Saturday and remain locked until Monday morning.
Exceptions to the standard schedule will be considered if satisfactory provision can be made for monitored use during hours when a building would otherwise be secured. The Director of University Police and the Director of Physical Plant should be consulted during the planning process for proposed exceptions. Exceptions must be approved by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance.
Other campus buildings will open and close according to the schedule of staffed operations in each building. Responsibility for recommending opening and closing hours for each campus building is assigned to the building coordinator. Proposals should specify who will lock and unlock exterior doors, when and where staff or monitors will be present, and the kind of uses to be accommodated. The Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance will receive these proposals, coordinate necessary review, and forward them to the Chancellor for action.
Control of and accountability for keys are essential elements in the balance between building accessibility and security. Keys should be issued only to University personnel with clear and recurring need for them. Faculty members and administrative officers generally will have exterior door keys for the building in which they work. Building coordinators will commonly have master keys for an entire building. Department heads may be authorized to possess submaster keys. (Policy #13 specifies persons who are authorized to have master and submaster keys.) Keys, especially master keys, should be kept on the authorized holder's person or in a secured location. Department heads and building coordinators should maintain current records of persons to whom keys are issued and should act to recover keys when faculty and staff members leave University employment or no longer have valid need for the keys issued to them.
To re-key an entire building is expensive and time-consuming. Key-holders, therefore, are urged to guard against unauthorized access to their keys, to relock secured doors when they enter and leave a building, and to report observations of unauthorized entry to University Police.