The purpose of this policy is to establish comprehensive and coordinated physical access control management for Northwest College. The College seeks to provide a reasonable level of security for employees, students, the campus community, and College property, while also allowing as much freedom of building access as possible. In doing so, the College interprets 'reasonable' through the legal reasonable person standard and aligns security practices with applicable best-practice frameworks (e.g., NIST 800 series, GLBA) where appropriate.

This access policy covers all College facilities (owned or leased), all keys, cards, and other devices that control access to all facilities, and all individuals granted access permission to college facilities.

The College may grant authorized users access to college facilities for sanctioned purposes, as approved by college administrators.

Access control uses a single, unified approach, using only the College-approved access control system(s). Keys and access credentials are the property of the College. Sharing or reproducing college-issued keys or access credentials is strictly prohibited.

The installation or integration of any electronic access control system, including exterior and interior components such as card readers, intrusion alarms, duress or panic alarms, glass break sensors, and other controls, shall comply with this policy.

The College shall establish and maintain procedures to enact this policy.

Adopted 07/19/2006
Amended 12/08/25