Following a project that started in March of this year, Ferris’ Big Rapids campus now has brand new cameras watching over students.
Between the Kendall School of Arts and Design in Grand Rapids and the Big Rapids campus, Ferris has roughly 600 new exterior cameras and 275 interior cameras.
This was just one part of a multi-phase project focusing on campus-wide security efforts. Phase one focused on campus residences, including residence halls, as well as West Campus apartments and East Campus suites. The cameras will be installed in these residence parking lots, as well as inside residence hall hallways.
While the cameras are significant to the campus, junior Biology Education Josh Smith believes there are still some strides that need to be taken to enhance safety on campus.
“I don’t know if safer would be the right word to use,” Smith said. “I would say I feel more secure if something were to happen to me or someone else on campus, that they would be able to accurately and effectively find out what happened in that situation, or who did it.”
Phase one also included adding cameras to high-volume traffic areas for students, such as the David L. Eisler Center, the FLITE building, Birkam Health Center, the Student Rec Center and the Timme building.
The cameras will also be installed in populated outdoor areas around campus, including the North Quad and South Quad.
Another component to phase one is brand-new cabling being installed. These new cables will help run the communications lines for phones and card swipe access.
Phase two of the project entails academic buildings such as the IRC and Starr building, and phase three will focus on sports facilities such as Top Taggard Field and the Sports Complex. Phase four will be all administrative buildings across campus, such as the Prakken Building.
Associate Vice President of Facilities Joe Haupt spoke about a new card swipe system that will eventually be put in place.
“If you have lived anywhere on campus, you’ve swiped a card to get into a residence hall,” Haupt said. “We’re putting more of those access control doors across campus, and they won’t just be on residence halls. When the project is 100% complete, we will have the ability to lock campus down in the event of an unfortunate situation, just by the push of a button at DPS.”
Another part of this project includes an upgrade to dispatch in the emergency operations center. Dispatch will be receiving brand new video walls. These walls will be compatible with the brand new cameras across campus and this project is just about finished.
The emergency operations center is the central command in the event of an emergency that occurs on campus. This is where leadership will go to help diffuse whatever is taking place on campus at that point.
Assistant professor of humanities, Dr. Evan Watts, believes this is a great thing for the campus.
“I am all for making sure students feel secure on campus,” Watts said. “If these new cameras and security systems around campus will make students feel safer walking around, that’s great. Having additional security measures in place is great, because people should feel safe on campus.”
While the cameras on campus are up and running, the whole project is far from done. The hope is that the entire security project will be finished by October of 2026, for the Grand Rapids and Big Rapids campuses.