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Access Control: College and University Campuses

Access Control College and University Campuses

Summer is quickly dwindling and the school season yet again approaches. New students will soon be touring their schools, colleges, and universities, which means that many of these establishments are considering how to go about implementing or improving their access control for events, among the many other things educational institutions must consider when a new school year is about to begin.

Access Control: what does it mean?

A physical access control system (PACS), on a basic level, is a type of security that restricts or limits access to buildings, areas, or specific parts of an area or building. It generally means that only those authorized to access the site are allowed to do so, barring others from entering. This term most often applies to a technological system geared towards restricting such access, such as those requiring a keypad, swipe card, or key fob.

So what does this mean for a college or university that wants to control access to their campus for events like orientation, sports games, or graduation? How does a large campus handle security issues during an extended event like a college fest? Let’s talk about how colleges and universities can control access to their campus with a different type of barrier: barricades!

school barricades at UCSD

Keeping higher education campuses safe with barricades.

Higher education institutes, in particular, have bigger campuses and larger student and guest populations that they need to keep safe. This means that their security must be fine-tuned and consistent for every event that occurs.

OTW barricades are a great way to maintain consistency between events; crowd control barricades are rentable for any occasion and are perfect for guiding guests, blocking off restricted areas, and more! Using the same barricades every time allows for familiarity and quicker deployment, saving your team time and your campus money. If your campus isn’t local to Utah, however, or you want a more permanent solution, our barricades are a terrific investment. They nest flat for easy storage, are lightweight, are built to last years, and are effortlessly moveable for easy setup and tear-down. Buying your own means that you’d have them on hand for any event at any time, and would make deploying them even easier!

Having systems and resources in place that are geared toward keeping students and guests safe is an essential element of any campus’ event planning. Here are some of the events where a college or university campus might find barricades to be most helpful in controlling access and ensuring safety.

Orientation and prolonged events

Orientation is often a prolonged event, lasting a few days to an entire week! The number of persons on a campus increases greatly during these times, with new and returning students, parents, and friends flocking to the site. Here, barricades might be most helpful in directing crowds with signage (guiding them towards check-in, their dorms, bathrooms, QR codes, and more) or blocking off access to restricted areas. They can also be used as gates, so to speak; setting up one or more barricades with a staff or volunteer member to monitor entrances allows for more precise knowledge of the number (and identity, if necessary) of guests. This helps keep the student population safe while allowing visitors for what is usually an exciting week on campus!

Sporting events

Another place where colleges and universities find OTW barricades useful is for indoor and outdoor crowd control at sporting events. At our last site visit, we saw LBSU use one school color of barricade indoors without fear for their floors… because our barricades don’t scratch! Outdoors, they lined their track and field with their other school color, clearly indicating which barricades went where and adding a touch of school spirit to their security. Other campuses take advantage of the optional signage and include sponsor logos on their barricades, honoring their sponsors and adding the opportunity for extra revenue.

red crowd control barriers lining the football field at Utah St. University

Large crowds and safety measures

Additionally, crowd control barricades are sturdy enough to be used at any college or university for controlling larger crowds – a continuous wall with a place to let people in and out goes a long way in helping keep people protected.

Having extra barricades and vertical panels on hand for parking lots only adds to the level of security a campus can provide. They can come in handy for much-anticipated games with larger-than-normal crowds, creating drop-off areas for events like graduation, or separating attendee parking from staff and VIP guest parking.

Generate non-sponsorship revenue

Finally, crowd control barricades present the opportunity to create non-sponsorship revenue, alongside providing safety, no matter the event they are placed at. Businesses know that college events are often well-attended and are happy to pay for ad space in an environment with a target audience where they might not generally get to showcase their business. OTW provides a custom signage service perfect for branding, advertising, sponsorships, and more. Order your full-resolution, full-color custom signs right alongside your barricades and see the difference they can make in adding to an event experience.

If your college or university owns OTW barricades, the opportunity for extra revenue only increases! Renting space on campus for events such as festivals or conferences is a common occurrence, and barricades can be added for an extra cost (thus increasing profit for the college). Renters can even print their own signage to mount on the barricades and make their event truly customized.

A yellow OTW barricade is set up outdoors at Long Beach State University

Stay safe with OTW.

Whatever events your campus hosts, be prepared for physical access control with OTW barricades. Contact us to set up your rental or purchase today!

PRO-TIP: Order them in your school colors and alternate them during setup for a sleek, safe, school-spirited atmosphere!