Residence halls will be adding security cameras to monitor elevators and entranceways next fall.

The Inter-Residence Hall Association has agreed to install security cameras in the entranceways and elevators of all residence halls this fall, possibly some time in August.

Citing vandalism, criminal mischief and harassment as reasons for the cameras, Peter Englin, director of the department of residence, said the benefit of having a Web-based feed of possible vandals available far outweighs the one-time installation cost and perception of personal intrusion.

Englin said vandalism costs the university, overall, between $40,000 and $60,000 a year.

“The whole process is intended to provide a value added amenity,” he said, “and is not an intrusion into their [students] homes.”

According to a fact sheet put together by Englin, the total cost of the system is $500,000, coming from an existing surplus account, with each camera costing $1,000. More than 200 cameras will be needed. The facilities planning and management budget will absorb the yearly costs, ranging from $14,000 to $17,000, or about $65 per camera.

Englin said the theft of furniture, pulled fire alarms and damage to elevators are the overriding factors for the installation of security cameras.

The cameras, the models of which are called Eudora, are already in place in the Memorial Union. Their monitor feeds are Web-based and are not going to have 24-hour monitoring by the department of public safety, Englin said.

He stressed that the cameras will not be placed in student living spaces, bathrooms, hallways or parking lots. Footage more than seven years old will be destroyed.

“We don’t plan to go into student living spaces,” he said. “In the future, if we need to expand, we will have a broad dialogue with student leadership.”

The agreement between the IRHA, Schilletter/University Village and Frederiksen Court associations came on Feb. 14, and the fact sheet was presented to each group, he said.

Discussion of adding security cameras started at a 2006 Chief Housing Officer Big 12 meeting. The issue was raised again at a 2007 meeting after directors said vandalism and theft rates went down after cameras were installed.

Most security cameras on campus are placed in computer labs and C-Stores.

Darryl Knight, associate director of residence halls, said that along with the security cameras, electronic access cards would become the standard across all residence halls, replacing brass keys so that an electronic log of student access can be kept. The concept here is security-minded, not that of “Big Brother,” he said.

“These cameras are not going to be monitored 24 hours a day, like in a casino,” he said. “The value of the cameras is as a deterrent, and they are used to identify people and actions at a later time.”

Robert Bowers, program manager at the department of public safety, said there are other places on campus looking to add security cameras, such as labs and support buildings, but those details are confidential.

“There are some places that are looking at the possibility of adding security cameras,” Bowers said. “But naming those places would be like advertising security weaknesses.”

As for adding security at places in the Campustown area, Ames Police Cmdr. Jim Robinson said beyond the cameras already in place by certain businesses, there are no plans to add more. He said there had been discussion after the Veishea riots of 2004, but there have been no definite plans.

“There has been discussion, but as of right now there will be no more cameras but the businesses that already have security cameras,” Robinson said.