House Security and Keys

General Security
Although house security is the responsibility of all residents, it is incumbent upon house leadership to develop a system for security in the house. Clear guidelines should be drawn up covering when and by whom the house will be locked each evening, how strangers in the house will be approached (numerous thefts have happened in houses simply because no one thought to ask a stranger what he/she was doing in the house), and how the house will respond to actual or threatened physical assault on any of its residents. The guidelines should also stress the need for individuals to lock their rooms when they're not in them and refrain from propping exit doors open. Please make sure that such guidelines are not only developed but are also disseminated to all house members. Malfunctioning doors, locks and windows should be reported to your Facilities Supervisor (or 5-1602 after hours) for immediate repair.

Keys
House security is diminished by lost or carelessly used master keys, lost room keys, malfunctioning locks, doors and windows. Whenever a master key is lost, the whole house must be rekeyed to ensure the safety of the residents. The student responsible for the master key will be charged $500 if it is lost. However, the cost of the entire rekey can run as high as $17,000 which could be charged to the house if it is the result of careless use of the master key on the part of the house.

House Managers should work with the RA to distribute and collect room keys.
When a student loses a room key, it should be reported to the Row Office and a new one will be ordered. The current cost of a rekey is about $70. It is essential to the security of the house that rekey requests be placed quickly, so that the work can be done as soon as possible. When a room key is lost, that lock is rekeyed, regardless of the circumstances of the loss.
At the end of the school year or when a student moves out of your house, room keys should be returned to the RA. Specialty keys (non-room) will be returned directly to the Row Office by the house or kitchen manager at the end of the school year. Specialty keys include house masters, kitchen keys, closet keys, etc. Any keys returned after the deadline are liable for rekey charges.

Students who wish to contest a rekey charge at the end of the academic year must have their RA contact Student Housing Operations to verify whether the key was properly returned. The final decision about the charge will be based on whether or not the RA received the key at the end of the quarter from the student.

Deliveries
Please do not give out kitchen access keys to delivery drivers. While the practice may seem to facilitate early morning deliveries, in the long run you may end up with more problems than you want. Keys are easy to lose or misplace and it may be difficult for you to get the key back at the end of the year. By giving a key to a non-house member, you are in effect giving permission to that person to enter your house at will, and you assume the responsibility of placing members of the house at a potential risk.