Chloe Coffield, staff writer

At the beginning of the fall semester, Berry College Campus Police worked with Residence Life department to launch a new method of keeping track of after hours guests. The new QR code will replace the old way of having to call the Welcome Center to inform the officers about oncoming guests that will break the after-hours time of 7 p.m.

Resident Assistant Hope Dolan said she believes this new system will be a success.

“You can scan the QR code with your phone and it will take you to a form that notifies the front gate that you have a visitor coming that will be staying after visiting hours,” Dolan said. “This form will replace the need to call the Welcome Center.”

Dolan said when students call the front gate to notify of an incoming visitor, students are calling campus police directly, which could potentially hinder emergency calls.

“When you call the front gate, you are calling the police at the gatehouse,” Dolan said. “If they are handling another, more severe situation, they do not need to take the time to answer calls involving visitors.”

The QR code features inquiries about who will be arriving on campus, their affiliation to whomever is filling out the form, and information about the Berry student’s room assignment. The Director of Residence Life Stephen Swieton said visitors must be affiliated with a Berry student to be let through the Welcome Center past 7 p.m.

“The visiting hours for Residence Life and on campus in general are different,” Swieton said. “The campus itself is open to the public every day until 7 p.m. After that, you have to have a reason to be coming onto campus. This form is for people who would be driving on after that initial cutoff. It’s also simply meant to monitor who’s coming onto campus after hours.”

Swieton said the new QR code system makes things easier for staff who work at the Welcome Center.

“Your form will be sent in to dispatch on a spreadsheet so that when the person comes, dispatch can simply mark them down to know that they are approved to come onto campus,” Swieton said. “This change streamlines the process for them to where all of that information can live in one spot instead of over a phone call.”

When it comes to delivering the news about this new system, Dolan believes that more could have been done in terms of getting the word out about it to prevent students from calling
the gatehouse.

“We didn’t include [the QR code] at the beginning of the year meeting [with Resident Assistants],” Dolan said. “That could have been really helpful at getting the word out. I would love to get the word out to more people about this convenience.”

Dolan said additional communication about the code has been sent to students.

“As of now, there has been an email sent out about it,” Dolan said. “The RA’s also have [the QR code] posted outside of their dorms and throughout the residence halls.”

Swieton said the QR code is an added measure to ensure the safety of students on campus.

“I think the biggest takeaway we want students to have is that we take safety extremely seriously,” Swieton said. “In the ‘Berry Bubble’, we think we are protected from the outside world in a sense.”

Swieton is aware of safety concerns on campus. He said campus police will continue to monitor who goes through the gatehouse.

“People forget that during the day, our campus is open to the public and we have a lot of outside guests,” Swieton said. “We do need to be cognizant that we still have to be safe, and making sure we know who comes through the gate helps keep us safe.”