University Owned Sorority and Fraternity Life Building Access Security

Date Created:  November 8, 2023                             Last Updated: June 20, 2024

Overview: The security of university owned buildings where students live presents moderate/high operational risks for Student & Campus Life that require due diligence to mitigate the risks in avoidance of physical or psychological harm to property or individuals that could result in expenses or reputational harm to the university.

Process Owner(s) / Key Parties / Contacts / Responsibilities:

• Students: Comply with membership and housing expectations and requirements, attend required trainings, and report behaviors that have a risk for physical or psychological harm to themselves or others. Advocate for oneself to facilitate accommodations related to access, when needed.

• Chapter President/Officers: Oversee and manage membership and housing expectations and requirements, attend required trainings, and report behaviors that have a risk for physical or psychological harm to themselves or others. Advocate for oneself to facilitate accommodations related to access, when needed.

• Campus and Community Engagement; Sorority and Fraternity Life Staff: Collaborate with emergency response personnel and campus partners to provide healthy and safe living environments where residents and their visitors are educated about reporting unsafe activities and are held accountable for behaviors that violate housing contracts, the Campus Code of Conduct, and key agreements. Maintain housing and membership rosters that identify residents. Feed in the resident info each semester from the rosters into the systems that store housing and membership rosters and key management.  If officers use the RIC system for check in/out, it will trigger SCL to add those students to the card access system if applicable to the facility. Support Facilities in the collection of funds necessitated by damages to or access breaches at university owned properties. Support the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards in holding organizations and student’s accountability for sanction completion. Support students working with Student and Disability Services to secure accommodations to safely ensure their access to university owned housing.

• Facilities Staff: Manage building access and property management through coordination with Fire Marshall, CUPD, EHS, and Student Disability Services for health and safety needs. Coordinate accessibility accommodations and repairs as needed. Manage user access to systems that store key and card access. Provide information and training to occupants around access management and security process and policy. Review keys and the forms within 10 days of opening and closing. Conduct monthly audits of keys and documentation during the summer months.

• Cornell Health/Student Disability Services: Collaborate with and support student to provide reasonable accommodations related to personal safety.

• Public Safety and Cornell University Police Department: Respond and serve as lead command during incidents where safety of individuals and/or property are deemed to be at risk while occurring on university owned properties. Report and investigate serious behavioral incidents to appropriate authorities. Publish Annual Security Report and Daily Crime Log.
• National Headquarters: Revoke chapter recognition or individual membership for behaviors that violate chapter expectations. Cooperate with campus officials as needed.

Key Documents / Sources of Information:

• University Policy 8.4, Management of Keys and Other Access Control Systems
• University Policy 8.1, Responsible Use of Video Surveillance Systems
• University Policy 5.9 Access to Information Technology Data and Monitoring Network Transmissions
• SCL Facilities key and card org charts
• SCL System Access Control Policy & Procedure: 1.0: Deprovisioning of high-risk systems: https://cornell.app.box.com/file/1177252395492
• Cornell University Police Department
• Cornell Ethics and Compliance Hotline
• Student and Campus Life - Report an Incident
• Campus Watch
• University-Owned Cooperative Officer’s Manual

System Access Needed:

• AccessIT!
• StarRez (membership roster only)
• Campus Kaizen Guardian
• KMS: Key Management System

Process Documented in Chronological Order:

1. House Manager submits resident roster to Sorority & Fraternity Life.
2. Sorority & Fraternity Life staff coordinate with access card coordinator to give access to the appropriate individuals.
3. Access card needs are entered into AccessIT! By Area Card Coordinator in SCL Facilities and cards are activated by AccessIT! Team.
4. All keys are managed by House Managers. The assignments are tracked in StarRez and unassigned keys are stored in a key box at the designated house, in compliance with policy 8.4. Officers of the house have the sequence key to retrieve the master, the key closet key, and the key box and are required to distribute the keys at check in and collect them at check out. Keys are passed from generation to generation by officers in the organization.
5. Keypad access is communicated to residents by House Manager. Keypad code is changed at the end of each session, 3 times per year, and as needed if there are breaches in security of the code.
6. Individual notifies Student Disability Services (SDS) of accommodation needs; SDS works with individual to provide reasonable accommodations.
7. House Manager submits event registration and guest list for approval in accordance with the SFL Event policy.
8. Key Coordinators/SCL Facilities check/verify key inventory on an undisclosed frequency.
9. Key Coordinator enters audit findings in undisclosed location.
10. House Officer immediately notifies Key Coordinator of lost, not returned, or keys given to another individual.
11. Individuals who lose, do not return, or give their key to another student fined or referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards for a violation of the Campus Code of Conduct.
12. Damaged keys are given to Key Coordinator, who collaborates with SCL Facilitates to repair locks, recore locks, and provide replacement key to House Manager to distribute to resident.
13. House Manager reconciles house rosters with key inventory at an undisclosed frequency and the logs are stored at an undisclosed location.
14. When a student takes a leave of absence from the university, the leave is processed through the University Registrar with a notification made by Student & Disability Services and the House Officer is sent a notification from Salesforce to the Housing Contracts Office. During the check-out process, the student returns key to House Officers/Manager. Key is stored in Co-Op lock block.
15. SCL Facilities manages building security systems (locks, windows, doors, sprinkler systems and security systems) through regular maintenance checks.
16. Residents of the house are educated about security policies and protocols and reporting areas of concern by Sorority and Fraternity Life unknown/times per semester or year.
17. Events hosted at university owned properties require registration, a guest list and disclosure of food/alcohol that will be served. Events deemed to be higher risk must include security personnel.
18. Facilities routinely checks security of property and facilitates the necessary repairs.
19. House residents, their families, and visitors may report emergencies to 911 or CUPD; they may report non-emergency concerns through Campus Kaizen Guardian.

Glossary of key terms/acronyms:

• OSFL: Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life
• KMS: Key Management System
• SDS: Student Disability Services
• SCL: Student & Campus Life
• ACC: Access Card Coordinator
• KCC: Key Coordinator (?)
• MC: Mitigating Control

Sorority and Fraternity Life Process Flow Chart is forthcoming.