Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson released the report on Tuesday, which he will use in making his decision about whether to implement a door-locking policy for College residence halls -- a decision he said he plans to make in the coming weeks.
In a letter to students accompanying the report, Nelson summarized the report as saying that Dartmouth should do more to enhance residence hall safety, and an ID card-swipe locking system would address most objections to door-locking proposals, although it would be more expensive than a key-locking system.
The Residential Security Report was formulated by the Residential Security Workgroup -- the committee of administrators and students charged by Nelson in July with examining issues related to residence hall security. The report assesses statistics and popular opinion about safety on campus, and examines door-locking policies at a number of Dartmouth's peer institutions.
The College is the only institution left in the Ivy League that does not have a restricted-access system for their residence halls, according to the report by the committee chaired by Acting Dean of Residential Life Mary Liscinsky.
The report, according to workgroup committee member Janelle Ruley '00, "was an evaluation of what we found" rather than a recommendation to Nelson about the implementation of a "key-locking" policy.
The Committee proposed two methods for controlling residential hall traffic -- a two-key system and a card-swipe system.
The two-key system would involve students having a master key to unlock all building entrances on campus. The card-swipe system would be the more convenient option for students, but it would cost approximately $450,000.
According to a survey conducted by the committee in November, 73 percent of students surveyed were opposed to a "key-locking" policy for entrance doors to residential halls.
If a restricted access system were imposed, the majority of the students reported that they would prefer doors be locked only during certain hours and be opened by using the Dartmouth ID card.
Residential hall security has been a subject of hot debate during the past year, and student opposition to a door-locking proposal during Spring term prompted Nelson to seek further input from the student body before proceeding with any plan, Liscinsky told The Dartmouth in November.
The proposal last spring by Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels was for a two-key system in which students who live off-campus could obtain a key with a $30 deposit.
A series of incidents involving vandalism and unwanted attention in Streeter residence hall at the end of last Winter term prompted discussion of the College's door-locking policies.
The plan sparked heated debate within the College community after the Student Assembly supported the door-locking proposal on May 26.
Eckels called the plan a "$12,000" experiment which would test the waters for a more expensive electronic card access system.
Before the vote, Eckels told the Assembly that then-Dean of the College Lee Pelton pledged to support the plan if the Assembly approved of it.
However, despite Assembly support, student reaction against the proposal prompted administrators to delay putting a door-locking policy into place, Licsinsky said.
Student Assembly President Josh Green '00, who voted in favor of the proposal last May, told the Dartmouth in November that the administration had paid close attention to student opinion in May and decided "the system wasn't going to work if students weren't in favor of it."
The report includes the results of a World Wide Web-posted survey about residential safety. All students were sent a BlitzMail message from the committee in November asking them to participate in the survey.
Survey results showed that many students regularly neglected to lock the doors to their rooms and 60 percent of students who were victims of theft reported that their doors were unlocked at the time of crime.
In addition, the committee found the number of thefts last year -- 80 reported incidents -- had risen slightly from 1997.
Committee members said they were taken aback by the campus crime statistics. "I think that there's a lot that hasn't been covered in The D that still goes on and that most people don't know about," Brent Edwards '00 said.
Most students polled by the committee said they were not worried about personal safety on campus. Only 3 percent "strongly agreed" that safety inside and outside of residential halls was an issue of personal concern.
In addition to Liscinsky, the committee was comprised of Assistant College Counsel Allegra Lubrano, Coordinator of the College's Sexual Abuse Awareness Program Susan Marine, College Proctor Bob McEwen and five students -- David Dexter '00, Edwards, Leigh Johnson '00, Ruley, and Katherine Werley '00.
