Whether students feel safe on campus depends on student and security expectations. Some students said their expectations of residence hall security are not being met because of a lack of both security enforcement and students following the rules.

Residence Hall Night Operations Staff, which is run by students, is required to assist with the guest registration process from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., said Michael Stang, director of residential operations for housing and dining. Students living in the residence halls are also required to register guests at the main desk and escort them at all times, he said.

Residence Hall Night Operations Staff are paid $6.90 to $7.70 per hour for night operations, said Brien Martin, associate director for business affairs for Student Life. The total expenses for night operations is about $244,000 per semester, he said.

“I think it’s possible that we have student staff members who aren’t following all the policies,” Stang said. “We’re working with a large student staff and we do the best we can to try to have them trained and enforcing the policies that we have in place.”

Beginning next semester, changes will be made in residence hall security procedures. Residents will still be required to register guests at the front desk, Stang said. However, “a student staff member will be stationed at the doors from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. to assist residents with the registration process,” he said.

Sophomore nursing major Nikki Rappin said she feels security is good overall on campus, but is “lacking” in the residence halls.

Rappin, who lives in Douglas Hall, said it is easy for guests to get into the residence halls past 11 p.m. She said on different occasions, she was able to get into Douglas, Lincoln and Grant after 11 p.m. without any questions asked.

“There was really no security,” Rappin said. “No one really says the security in the [residence halls] is strict, and I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of someone not getting into a [residence hall] they wanted to.”

Another Douglas Hall resident, sophomore psychology major Whitney Tamm, said it is fairly easy to get into residence halls after 11 p.m. when the security check is minimal.

“All you need is your NIU OneCard to swipe to unlock the main door, and when there is a large group, all you need is one card to swipe and the entire group goes in,” Tamm said. “Most of the time, I don’t know if the people at the door live in the building or go to school here.”

Though Tamm said security is very strict during Homecoming weekend, she said security should be stricter when enforcing entry cards and NIU OneCards to enter the building.

“The only hard part is when people hold doors for others, because you don’t want to be rude and not hold a door for someone,” Tamm said.

“You also don’t want to ask a stranger a million questions like ‘Do you go here?’ and ‘Do you have your card,” she said.

Junior engineering technology major Caleb Westadt, a resident of Stevenson, said security on campus could be better, especially in Douglas and Lincoln halls.

“I’ve known people who have had stuff stolen from their [residence hall rooms],” Westadt said.

Another Stevenson resident, junior accountancy major Jessica Maxam, said security always checks identification in Stevenson, but only glances at it.

Maxam said her previous roommate bought a yellow card from someone else for five dollars to get into the residence halls.

Erin Kirk, a freshman elementary education major and Lincoln Hall resident, said she feels very safe on campus and does not think residence hall security is a problem.

Kirk said at Lincoln, there is no one who checks IDs after 11 p.m., and in Grant, security is very strict and students always need someone to accompany them.

“You have to have a form of ID and someone from Grant to fill out a piece of paper to sign you in,” Kirk said.

Kirk said it is easy for anyone to get into the residence halls because they could follow someone in who lives on the floor or wait by the door until someone lets them in.

“It’s not scary because many people always have different visitors, so you’re used to seeing different faces,” Kirk said.

Tamm said she does feel safe living in the residence halls, but thinks there are ways to make all students feel safer.

“I think NIU should always be strict about security for safety purposes at all times, not just for special occasions like Homecoming,” Tamm said. “I think the entire university would benefit from this course of action.”