In a process to ensure the safety of students and staff on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State, the UFS is busy implementing access control measures.
Access control at Gate 2 (Badenhorst Street) and Gate 4 (Furstenburg Street)
Access control will be implemented at the five different gates of the Bloemfontein Campus. The first phase of the process will already be implemented at the beginning of August 2014. Gates 2 and 4 will then be equipped with card readers. Only persons with valid cards (staff and student cards) will be able to enter and leave through these gates. Existing staff and student cards are already equipped to be read by the short-distance card readers at the gates in order to activate the booms.
At this stage, staff and students will have to swipe their cards against the card reader at Gates 2 and 4/hold it not further than 20 mm from the reader for the boom to open. Card holders will therefore have to physically stop in front of the boom in order to get access to the campus.
From 2015, staff and students will be able to purchase cards which are equipped with a microchip, allowing cards to be read at a long distance. Card holders will then no longer have to swipe their cards against the card reader or have to stop; the boom will open automatically and they will be able to drive through.
Access control at Gate 3 (Wynand Mouton Drive) and Gate 5 (DF Malherbe Drive)
Except for Gates 2 and 4, the rest of the gates at the Bloemfontein Campus will still be open as is currently the case, until the next phase of the access control project are implemented. The next gates to be equipped with access control, is Gates 3 and 5. Access control is expected to be implemented from end of October 2014 at these two gates.
Gate 3 is earmarked for use by official card holders. This includes students, staff and persons doing business on campus. Parents dropping and fetching their children for sports, as well as service providers of the UFS, such as architects, may apply for valid cards (those persons will have to provide proof that they have business on campus). The procedure for non-personnel to apply for a card is as follows:
– Application forms will be available at Protection Services at the Bloemfontein Campus, at the new visitors’ centre, as well as online on the UFS’s website. The forms must be completed and submitted to Protection Services for approval.
– Applicants for cards must provide proof of identification to the staff at Protection Services. This can be your driver’s licence, passport or identity document.
– The form will then be referred to ICT Services and the approved form must then be handed in at the card division of the Bloemfontein Campus on the Thakaneng Bridge. As soon as you have paid for the card (the cost of the card are still to be determined), a card will be issued to you by the card division.
– Cards will be valid for one year, subject to certain terms and conditions.
All visitors to the campus will be referred to the Visitor’s Centre at Gate 5. This include, among others, parents, family and friends of students, as well as conference delegates. It is estimated that the Visitor’s Centre will be completed at the end of September. Visitors will sign in at the Visitor’s Centre and, depending on the business they have on campus, they will only be allowed on campus for a certain period of time.
Lane 1 at Gate 5 will be used by visitors and service providers to enter the campus. Only card holders will be able to use lane 2.
Access control at Gate 1 (Nelson Mandela Drive)
The entrance at Gate 1 of the Bloemfontein Campus will be widened. One extra lane will be built for incoming, as well as outgoing traffic. The project is estimated to be completed at the end of October.
For outgoing traffic, lane 1 (furthest from the guardhouse) will be used by card holders, buses and trucks. Lane 2 will only be used by card holders and lane 3 (closest to the booth) will be used by service providers.
For incoming traffic lane 2 and 3 were set aside for use by only service providers. Lane 1 and 4 will be used by only card holders.
General
After the project has been fully implemented, valid card holders will be able to gain access to the campus through all five gates. All gates, except for Gate 4, will then be equipped with long-distance readers.
All gates for motorists, except Gate 4, will also be equipped with a pedestrian thoroughfare on completion of the project. Persons using these pedestrian gates also need to use their cards to get access to the campus.
-Supplied
