Technology upgrades, from video cameras in parking lots to new procedures for using library computers, have enhanced campus security as students return to the university for the start of the fall semester.
Security improvements include the following projects:
• Video cameras have been installed in four parking lots: the Moseley Center, Harden, East (by the gym) and the Oaks lots. The cameras record activity in the lots and can be monitored live 24 hours a day.
• Several additional buildings now require swipe access for entry, where only students, faculty and staff with a Phoenix card can gain access.
• A traffic circle at the intersection of Phoenix Drive and North O’Kelly Avenue will make it easier for motorists to enter campus from University Drive. An island built between the two lanes of travel will also slow vehicles, and a welcome station has been constructed just north of the traffic circle.
• University leaders plan to enroll more students into the E-Alert program. E-Alert sends text messages to cell phones in the event of a campus emergency such as severe weather. Sign up for the E-Alert system by visiting the link to the upper right of this page.
• A security fence has been constructed at Danieley Center, said Chuck Gantos, director of campus safety and police.
• No longer will students or community members be able to use a computer in the Belk Library without entering their Elon IDs or, in the case of visitors to the university, a temporary ID and password assigned by the library front desk.
“When we get a complaint, we need to be able to track who did what, on which computer,” said Chris Fulkerson, assistant vice president for technology. “We need to know what people are doing on our network.”
In addition to the security improvements, crews installed crosswalk lights on N. O’Kelly Avenue and on Williamson Avenue to alert drivers when a pedestrian has entered a crosswalk area. The lights operate on a motion sensor aimed at the corner of the sidewalk.
“If they miss that bull’s-eye,” said Brad Moore, assistant director of construction management at Elon, “the lights won’t operate.”