In the past few weeks, several Bradley students said they have experienced problems with their student ID cards and accessing their residence halls on campus.
On Feb. 6, several Heitz Hall residents said they were unable to access their dorm rooms and some exterior doors with their IDs. Separately, students have also reported trouble accessing Elmwood Hall in the Singles Complex.
In reaction to the issue, residential advisers in Heitz and the singles have recommended in floor group chats that a resident should contact central communications if they are experiencing a lock out, but no further explanation had been provided.
Nolan Bulmahn, Heitz resident and sophomore sports communication
major, said that he frequently experiences issues with ID access, but the Feb. 6 incident was a more significant event.
“It’s very evident and it’s very inconsistent which is the most annoying part … maybe once a week,” Bulmahn said. “And it’s not just me.”
According to Brian Joschko, chief of Bradley police and vice president for public safety, students may be experiencing problems because of a transition toward a new access control platform. The control platform is the technology behind student IDs and card scanners.
“We will end up with a far superior access control product at the end of the day,” Joschko said. “We have some bumps and some growing pains working through that transition process, but I am very confident that at the end of the day, the end product will be substantially better than what we have.”
Joschko would not disclose the specific buildings affected during the transition process at the moment.
The number of students experiencing issues spiked at the beginning of this semester but now has decreased, according to Joschko.
“It’s a small sampling of the student population that’s being impacted by this and we’re able to get it quickly resolved as soon as we learn that there’s an access issue where somebody’s ID card isn’t working,” Joschko said.
Joschko said the incident involved with Heitz is complicatedbecause BUPD runs the exterior card readers while Facilities Management manages interior card scanners that access dorm rooms.
When a resident experiences issues with individual room access in Heitz, the problem would have to be diagnosed through Facilities Management, and it is not related to BUPD’s platform transition.
The date of the transition’s completion is unclear, but Joschko said it would conclude in “the near future.”
He added that students should call Facilities Management at 309- 677-2915. BUPD can also be reached to diagnose the card at 309-677-2000.
