Reslife adopts new master key policy

The Office of Residence Life opted to implement a new master key policy at the start of the 2021-2022 school year, enabling only the Resident Assistant (RA) on duty to have master keys instead of all Resident Assistants. 

In the past, residents could call their personal RA, who would assist them with a lockout, whether or not that RA was on duty. However, residents will now be expected to call the Office of Residence Life or Campus Safety if they are locked out during work hours and should call the RA on duty if they are locked out after hours. 

Allen Lollis, assistant dean of students for residence life and dean of the sophomore class, explained that the present lockout policy has not changed in the last five years or so, and that students should contact residence life during normal business hours to obtain a temporary key. If a student is unable to visit the Office of Residence Life, a member of the staff will meet the student at their room. 

“There weren’t any incidents that precipitated this reform.” said Dean Lollis on what prompted the change. Lollis stated that he and his office recognized “an opportunity to do something better and to keep our campus safer” and that they were “going to take that opportunity to improve.”  

Lollis also stressed that having a magnitude of keys distributed on campus that provide access to Wofford’s residential spaces creates a liability for the Office of Residence Life staff members in charge of those keys. The Office of Residence Life has taken cues from other peer institutions that refuse to provide this level of liability to their student workers.

 “This was a common sense measure to take some liability off of our staff…and provide for the security of our campus,”  said Lollis.

Some students have voiced concern about the new master key policy, alleging that gaining assistance in opening their doors could take significantly longer, particularly during regular business hours, due to fewer members of the Office of Residence Life being available to assist with lockouts. 

However, Dean Lollis said that the Office of Residence Life has “not seen any significant increase in lockout calls” since the key policy change and that his office “remains ready and willing to help students however we can!”

Luke Nelson ‘23, Senior Village Resident Assistant, said he has “become very understanding of the policy” and believes it was “a smart move to just give (the master key) to the RA on Duty”. 

While Nelson was first opposed to the new policy, he later realized how it reduces risk since the Office of Residence Life no longer has to worry about rekeying missing keys or allowing the master key to slip into the hands of persons who are not affiliated with the Office of Residence Life.

The Office of Residence Life made this decision to improve existing students’ experiences on campus, and students are encouraged to contact them if they have any other recommendations or advice on how to improve student’s experience in residential buildings. Students can reach out to residence life via email at [email protected] or by visiting the residence life office on the second floor of the Mungo student center.