Although construction of the new door-locking system continues, the system will not be up and functioning for at least another term, according to Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels and Frank Roberts of Facilities, Operations and Management.
Roberts hesitated to say when the system would be finally ready.
"It might be Spring term, it might be Summer term. Something could happen tomorrow which could slow down the process for another month. Something could happen tomorrow which could significantly expedite the process."
According to Eckels, all of the phones needed for the new system will be in place by the end of the week. However, he was unsure by what date Telephone Services will have activated these phones.
Roberts added that work still needs to be done on the software that runs the system.
"The software package needs to be made compatible with existing Dartmouth software," Roberts said. Also, databases of names and barcodes still need to be developed.
In addition, all students will need to obtain new ID cards, and figuring out a logical way to distribute the new cards which will open the doors to all students remains a larger problem, according to Eckels.
"We don't want 1,000 students showing up in the Dartmouth Card office all at once," he said. "We're thinking of ways to divide the group of students, possibly move the process into individual dorms."
Although the system will probably not be ready to work by the end of Winter term, Eckels said that the issuing of new IDs may begin this term, again to facilitate the process of granting new IDs to thousands of students.
Both Eckels and Roberts said that recent incidents on campus, including the assaults this past November, have in no way affected the construction process.
"We are aware of the incidents," Roberts said, "but our biggest concern is turning on a system that works. We don't want student concern about cards not working."
Eckels added, "We've always tried to work as quickly as possible in any case--we had people working on wiring and electricity all through the Christmas break, for example."
