Classroom doors to get new locks

Classrooms across MCC will soon become a little more secure, thanks to a measure just approved by the board of trustees that calls for installation of more than 500 new door locks.

The locks, which will be installed beginning in May, are intended to protect students, faculty and staff in the event of a public safety emergency involving an intruder or other threat to personal safety. Once installed, the doors will be lockable from both inside and outside of the room. Currently, most classroom and conference room doors can only be locked and unlocked from outside of the room and require the use of a key.

“We want to give students, employees and guests peace of mind,” said Bill Hudson, chief of campus police. “If there is a safety threat in the building or anywhere on campus, people will be able to close and lock the door to protect themselves from danger.”

MCC’s construction and maintenance crews will be manually installing the new knobs and handles on a schedule that will not interfere will classes or other college business. Installation will begin in May and is expected to be complete by the middle of the fall 2011 semester, according to MCC’s construction superintendent Richard Hill.