Dorms will be on a 24-hour lockdown beginning this summer, meaning students will need to swipe their ID+ cards to access their buildings.

Conal Carr, assistant director of Residence Life, said a committee consisting of representatives of Penn State Housing and Food Services, Residence Life, Penn State Police Services and the Association of Residence Hall Students reached this decision earlier this year.

Fraser Grigor, assistant director of Housing and Food Services, said the university is in the process of installing the additional hardware necessary to make doors on campus ready for this conversion.

"It's all in place," Grigor said. "We have instituted some changes to make the transition as seamless as possible."

Grigor said changes to dorm entrances will include outfitting doors with additional card readers, audible alarms and exterior phones in order to prepare for the 24-hour card access. This change will first be implemented in time for summer session and will be carried over into Fall Semester and beyond, he said.

Carr said University Park is presently the only Penn State campus without a 24-hour card-access policy. He emphasized security as the main motivation supporting the change.

"I think most people are surprised that we don't have 24-hour access," he said.

Carr also said that in order to accommodate students, commons desks in each area will remain open 24 hours a day.

The issue of mailroom placement was also voiced in discussions of changes involved in implementing the increased card access, Carr said. Residents of Hartranft and Mifflin halls currently get their mail in McElwain and Simmons halls, respectively. As part of the changes in card access, their mailboxes will be moved to Pollock Commons to allow them to retrieve their mail more conveniently, Carr said.

"(These changes) are not meant to be an inconvenience for anybody," Chris Polley, ARHS president, said. "It's meant to increase safety and security."

Polley also said the decision to increase card access hours was finalized this past year in response to an increase in student and parent concerns. The current system had been criticized after a Penn State student entered women's Mifflin Hall dorm rooms in August and allegedly assaulted at least three of them.

"It's the way things need to go," Polley said. "It's the simplest thing that can be done to increase safety at this time. Residence halls are meant for the residents."

Carr emphasized that security in the dorms is an effort between staff and residents.

"We can do a lot to help buildings become more secure," he said. "But a lot of this is dependent on students."