Student Health & Safety During The COVID-19 Pandemic Student health and safety are two of the top priorities for many higher education institutions . The compounded effect of typical security threats and the threat of COVID-19 can cause concern for the well-being of campus communities . Luckily , modern advancements in campus security technology and COVID-19 mitigation engineering solutions enable higher education institutions to pursue the ultimate privacy and protection for their students . Let ’ s zero in on a couple of possible COVID-19 mitigation solutions :
Temperature Screening Temperature screening allows facilities to monitor occupants and identify potentially infected individuals . A common temperature screening tactic is to put a kiosk at check-in points , such as outside of campus buildings . Alternatively , the temperature screening technology can be combined with security cameras to identify an individual ’ s temperature in real-time while on campus . This enables facilities to be screened without the need for in-person check-in points .
Update Access Control Systems Access control systems enable facility owners to regulate who has permission to access certain rooms and at what time . For example , campus buildings may close at certain hours but will still be accessible to faculty and janitorial staff . The same systems that create these permissions can be combined with COVID- 19-related data to mitigate the spread in campuses . One simple solution is to adjust occupancy control limits for rooms to be in line with the occupancy recommended for safe distancing . If too many people are in a room at once , it can become inaccessible until the occupancy is below the maximum . Taking it in another direction , the room permissions may be tied in with the temperature screening technology to disable permissions for flagged individuals . Modern-day security systems essentially enable all security systems to communicate with one another . As a result , if programmed correctly , data can be utilized in many different ways .
Notably , CARES Act funds ( ESSER , HEERF , CRRSA and ARP ) can be applied to upgrading access control systems , or any security improvement of which the primary purpose is protecting students and staff from COVID-19 .
We ’ ve utilized engineering solutions to provide COVID-19 guidance to numerous public and private campuses , including :
• CSU Bakersfield
• CSU Northridge
• San Diego State University
• Cal Poly Pomona
• Claremont McKenna College
• Palomar College
• San Jose - Evergreen CCD
• Rancho Santiago CCD
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