A number of broken doors left unlocked at on-campus residences have sparked frustration and concern among students.
Blocks in Derwent, Goodricke, James and Vanbrugh colleges have all experienced malfunctioning doors that have not locked or closed properly. Some consistently unlock themselves due to security flaws putting students’s security at risk.
Rebecca O’Dwyer, a resident of Goodricke College said that she “feel[s] that [her] safety has been jeopardised. It’s ridiculous that this has been going on for so long.”
The main problem surfaced in Goodricke at the beginning of this term, following the Duke of York’s visit to officially open the college. The doors, which are automatic and operate through use of a key card held against a security pad, have either been opening themselves or not fully closing.
Doors to individual flats within these blocks have also unlocked themselves. Due to the nature of the layout of the buildings, this gives full access to kitchens to anyone without a key.
This has been a particular problem for one particular eight person house at Goodricke, in which the front door, the only access point to the house, remained broken throughout the Autumn Term and parts of Spring Term. Due to a technical problem, the door would not automatically lock when shut.
Though reportedly fixed, it continued to break even after the problem was brought to the attention of university staff.
One member of the house told Vision that “it is unacceptable that the doors were consistently broken and that our security was compromised.”
Electronic doors at new Vanbrugh residences and new James residences colleges have also suffered similar problems of doors not closing fully or unlocking themselves. Vision has received reports of one Derwent block that is accessible without an entrance code.
“Students have got a right to swift repairs when something goes wrong with accommodation – especially if it leads to a security risk,” says YUSU Welfare Officer, Ben Humphrys.
“We’re currently lobbying the university to put the reporting systems online so we can easily pull the university up when responses are slow.”
However, Humphrys stresses that the York campus is very safe both relative to the surrounding area and other universities.
“Residential theft and assault went down on both 2008 and 2009 figures, and are both generally at very low levels. There really is no reason to fear crime on campus.”
The University commented that “there is no fundamental problem with the automated doors in Goodricke College or a risk to the security of students. If a problem does occur and is reported it is addressed by University staff or by the contractors who fitted the doors as appropriate.”